Helping Your Students Learn from Everyday

Wow, this past week and a half has been filled with a ton of dramatic and fun news.  Sports have consumed my time this past few days.  My twitter project for the summer has really dwindled down.  Not having student followers has made it very challenging.  I should have started early before the school year ended.  Yet, I have continued to learn, and learn on purpose.  Creating some wonderful experiences with friends and my family.
This weeks post is mostly about some events that have popped up in the news these past few days.  Of course I am only going to mention what news I caught while I was switching channels from reality shows to Sports Center.  So here goes:
        
          First:  This past week Derek Jeter of the New York, Yankees hit his 3000th hit with a home run on home his home field.  How cool is it to see a MLB player complete such a task and complete it without cheating. The person who caught the ball only gave up the ball for season tickets and a few autographs for the rest of the season.  Oh no, not this guy.  Jeter would be at my school every year till I retire giving a keynote,  I would have some college funds for my kids and at least 10 years worth of season tickets.  All kidding aside, I hope that most of my students were able to see this milestone and notice that with hard work and not just talent alone you can achieve great things.  Which leads me to my next lesson learned

          Second:  Pacman Jones is in the news again.  No ladies and gentlemen you are not going to hear good things.  He was arrested again and most likely will be punished by the NFL or not.  You may think because of the lockout Pacman  is out of the reach of the league but not at all.  What a lost talent.  Unfortunately I also blame alot of it on his upbringing.  Pacman was so talented that he was always praised for how great he was, how well he did it and how his talent will get him into the NFL.  His teachers and parents should have praised his hard work and recognized his good choices.  All the talent in the world can get you the job and money you desire but it won't help you keep it.  WORK HARD kids!!  Teachers recognize these things in class let them see how talent is not the end of the story.  For the first couple of years of teaching I always brought up Ricky Williams football career, the intelligence of Jeffry Dahmer, and Michael Jackson's path from King of Pop to a weirdo.  Please teachers give your students examples in the classroom of  people seeking greatness not success.

Third:  This is a competitive world and it just isn't in the marketplace.  It begins in the classroom.  I know it is not a new idea but it really clicked with me watching the U.S. women's world cup team play in the early rounds.  These players are training and dedicating their lives to win something bigger than themselves.  They are representing a people, a country, and idea of democracy.  Are we instilling that kind of mindset in the classroom or are we just leaving that up to sports only.  Create your class to be a global classroom.  You may think it is hard but it is not.  I teach 8th grade U.S. history.  When you think about of course it is global but 8th graders just think about what is happening on the mainland not the influence we have on the world, the big Why am I learning this question should be answered with a global mindset.  Competition and global learning should be an everyday expectation in your class.

I hope that in the coming years of my teaching my students and co-teachers will grow to be competitive global thinkers.  I hope you do too!  Make Good Choice, Do Great Things!