This I Believe
Navigating the Unpredictable Spaces
The best part of the assignment was walking around the classroom, listening to the group members banter and discuss what they felt were the qualities, ideas, and values that best represented America. “The next time,” I thought, “I’ll have them sort these ideas into positive and negative categories.” For now, though, they had many fascinating and unpredictable insights into 21st century America. Many of these were culled from social media or their hobbies and interests. It was these personal interests that I hoped they would discuss at length, each poster showcased a variety of judgements. As they brought their posters to the front of the class, I asked each group to give me the three that they felt were best reflective. Here is where their passion fizzled, and group after group intoned “freedom” as the word most demonstrative of America. Stopping one, I asked if she truly believed that Freedom was the best fit. It didn’t seem the one that they were most passionate about when they had been brainstorming. More importantly, was what she offered the truth?
“The truth?” she responded. “Oh, no. No, no…but that’s our answer.” After I pressed further as to why she wouldn’t just state which terms they actually thought were most important or connected with more fully, she replied, “Because it’s school and I don’t want to get in trouble.” A low murmur of agreement went through her seated classmates. Following up, it became clear that the class felt that they needed to pull their punches when it came to trading ideas because it was ingrained that some ideas were not acceptable for the school environment. Somehow it dawned on me that although the school year started a week ago, this was the true starting point of the class.
I believe that the classroom should be a safe place to trade ideas and engage in free and respectful communication. As an English teacher, I believe that every outlet in the short time we have together for students to explore their existing knowledge and integrate new ideas should be provided. This means that time and space may need to be stretched as students find the best means to express their understanding, creativity, and critical thinking. Students need to know that open and honest exchanges of information is the best way to arrive at exploring the potential of their worlds, arrive at understandings, or learn the art of compromise.
I believe that confronting the uncertainties of the future is only cushioned somewhat by the lessons of the past. Many students state that their frustration with English is the lack of singular, “right” answers. However, it is in this unpredictable space where the exhilaration and intimidation of learning can be found. Students express that the opportunity to write, whether it is routine creative writing time in which they create stories, poetry, songs, and journaling, or structured expository writing, which guides and organizes comprehension and analysis, works to navigate this unfamiliar space. These writers also benefit from the support of writing groups made up of peers, with whom they can discuss and verbalize their intentions throughout the writing process.
It is of utmost importance that students integrate 21st century’s technological demands with the ability to communicate fully and clearly. Many students appreciate a break from the informational economy of social media, which demands the chunking of text and heavy incorporation of visual elements. It is important to show students that their thoughts cannot be contained to only 140 characters at a time, particularly when dealing with important topics such as politics or other worldly issues. I believe that when students are aware of a demanding and skeptical audience, they must consistently put forth their best effort in order to ensure and maintain credibility. Along with exemplary writing samples, students need to see examples of poor or ineffective communication to compare elements of both and determine which to avoid and which to emulate. In this way, writing is ingrained as a necessary life skill, and not exercises constrained to the classroom.
Mostly, I believe that writing is not only fun, but also an authentic means for the student to grow, develop, and impact their world. Writers are emboldened by their creations, finding ways to give form to their thoughts, challenging those ideas that came before, and fitting them into contemporary contexts. No student should feel a need to hold back their talents, which is particularly egregious in a classroom setting. This undermines the spirit of education. Students should be encouraged to continue to develop skills independently, and not wait for teacher prompting. Once shown the potential frontier of writing styles, outlets, and audiences, writers should be fearless in searching them out and speaking their truths.
