The Principal and the Kid

     I spent the other night shooting baskets with my son in the pouring rain. I don't push my son to ever practice extra, but I will anytime he says let's work on something. He will often get philosophical on me as we spend time together and ask big questions whether that is about sports in his future, or life in general. I love those conversations and cherish them. Last night, as I picked up Teach Like a Pirate and began reading through it again for about the 100th time, I realized that I am not the expert on student engagement. Dave Burgess is well qualified but the real expert was sitting next to me working on making himself in NBA 2K21 so he could play with "'Bron and Brow". What better way to learn about student engagement than from the lens of an 11-year old middle school boy!! So I asked him, "Cale, what engages you at school?" 

"It has to matter to me and I have to learn something new. I like when I get to pick the topic."-Cale Miller (or any student)

    Think of the simplicity of this statement...but the power in it. Teach me something new and something that matters to me. That is all it is. Sheniger (2015) wrote about the importance of student engagement and being relevant. When you can tap into the passion of students, whether that be in the topic that is covered or in the options students have for presenting their learning; you create that purpose for learning. When you can connect passion with purpose, you have a slam dunk lesson/activity. Imagine a school or classroom where every student is connected with a purpose. What would discipline look like? What would student engagement look like? What would the authentic learning experience look like? That is my Utopia of schools...and Cale's too.

Reference

Sheninger, E. (2015). Uncommon learning: Creating schools that work for kids.

    Corwin.