Involve Me and I Learn

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” This is a quote by Benjamin Franklin, and it is one that I try to model my teaching after. When I look back on my education, I don’t remember the great lectures my teachers gave. I don’t remember the worksheet they spent hours creating late at night. I remember the projects that they asked me to complete. I remember the way the teacher treated me and the positive relationships they built with me. I would guess that this sentiment is true for many of us. 

When students of 2020 look back on this crazy time, they aren’t going to remember the hours you spent arguing with them over their math homework. They will remember the quality time you spent with them, the emotions that they had, and the way adults around them responded to this global crisis. I have been following one social media influencer in particular. His name is Trevor Muir, and he is a motivational speaker and author. He also is the creator of The Epic Classroom, and a role model I look to when I am teaching.  This pandemic has given many parents the new- found role of teacher. I would recommend checking out Trevor Muir and what he has to say. One of my favorite quotes from Trevor is this, “Remember this today: your students are a captive audience. Like it or not, your fear becomes their fear; your calm becomes their calm. Of course this can be a burden, but also a gift that can be the presence in their lives.” Adults, we need to “be the calm” for the children in our homes. They are a captive audience, they can’t get up and leave because they are uncomfortable. Let’s teach them to have peace, let’s teach them to show love, let’s teach them to show kindness even when the world around us is chaotic, unloving, and unkind. 

How can we teach children these things? Step one is to involve them in something. Step two is to be models of desired behaviors. I would suggest embarking on a new adventure with the children in your lives. Have you ever heard of Rube Goldberg? He created comics of complicated machines that complete a very simple task. Simply type Rube Goldberg Machines into YouTube and you will find a ton of ideas that you can do within your own home. Building a Rube Goldberg machine can teach your children so many different things. It will teach them to keep going when it gets tough, because your Rube Goldberg Machine will fail many times before you get it right. It will teach your child simple physics without reading a book or memorizing equations, they’ll begin to understand how machines work. It will be a time you can show your child love. It will be a time where memories will be made. It will be a distraction from the chaos outside. When your child looks back on the time they spent weeks, maybe months constrained to their house, give them a story to tell about the crazy machine they built with their Mom and Dad. Let them talk about the hours you spent laughing together, or the love and patience you taught them. Kids open up when they have something to do and this may be a way to connect with your child in ways you never have before.   

So this week friends, let's teach love and not hate in a harsh world. Let’s teach peace in the midst of chaos. Enjoy the adventure friends!