Go Out and See Them!

We spend so much time in school telling kids what to do and when to do it. The classes students spend time in each day allow for varying degrees of choice: some classes are very structured with very little student voice or choice. Others have more.

Regardless, we DO a lot of things to our students at school. Kids are at school in many cases because they have to be. Some are passionate about school or a subject area, but some kids are just there. They are told to do things that in many cases just don’t resonate with who they are or what they are interested in.

But getting to see kids to things that THEY choose to do? That THEY are passionate about? Oh man. So magical. And that’s why I go to so much stuff (for lack of a better word) that my kids do. I got to go check out about a dozen of my tenth graders in our fall play In The Heights this past Thursday. And got to see kids do awesome, creative, talented things that THEY chose to do. And it was so much fun.

I spent the afternoon today with my work wife at one of my advisee’s choir concerts. And it was a blast. So much talent!

The jazz band - our jazz band is really good and I’m their groupie that wanders down zero period to listen to them - has a concert on Thursday. Can’t wait to go to that either.

Getting to watch kids do things that they are passionate about is just too much fun not to do. Take the time. Go to the play. Stop by the soccer game. Make time to go to the concert. It means so much to them.

Added bonus: this then makes your job easier in the classroom.

Florence 10th graders from In The Heights

Sarah (my work wife), Livvy, and I after a spectacular choir concert