Recently I decided that I would have my students write (and subsequently record) a "This I Believe" (as done on NPR). It started off slow for many students, having barely tweaked the directions from the NPR site and giving them only two or three examples each probably didn't help that either. What started though as a nice little exercise where I assumed students would take the easy route topic wise (IE. everyone is equal, racism is wrong, don't judge a book by its cover, etc.) turned into what I believe to be one of the most meaningful pieces of work many of them will complete this year.
Of course there were some of the old standards but it absolutely blew my mind how seriously most eighth graders took this exercise. Some even completely redoing it in order to better get across what they were trying to say (and not based on my expectation of them - I had requested two drafts, some students did five or six of their own volition for fear they weren't getting their message across). I can think of only a handful of adults that I have EVER met who put this much thought into their beliefs. When you ask most adults why they believe something they tend to respond with something ingenious such as, "I just do," or, "because I said so." Really? Color me unimpressed adults.
I was driving home from work today and stopped at a gas station and saw a group of teenagers just being obnoxious loud scumbags. I got to thinking that folks are always talking about how it never used to be like that, as if everyone used to be respectful, and there wasn't any violence, etc. etc. I used to have all sorts of big ideas as to where I would go if I could time travel, really though I'd just like to go back sixty years or so, teach, and see how folks acted and if it is really THAT different.
Sure, students can be rude these days, and maybe back in the day they were better at hiding it (or feared consequences more than just the lunch detentions we offer), but they are also absolutely amazing these days. I'm amazed daily by the thoughtfulness and consideration these young people have towards their community and the world and only wish that more adults could emulate them in that respect (and many others come to think of it - ever heard of playing? It's still fun!)
As of now only one of my four classes has actually recorded it and I then "released" it on CD and they all got a copy. That was yesterday and today they came in and were curious if we would listen to it aloud because they wanted to hear each others and be able to comment on them. When I said I wasn't sure they all started telling each other how amazing each others' were - and they weren't doing it for reciprocation or to impress me - they were doing it because they are genuinely terrific human beings.
I believe that children bring out the best in people and showcase the best a person can be, and I believe that I am one of the most fortunate people in the world for having the opportunity to work with the young adults I work with every day.