What is most effective at
helping folks grow?
Not your regular garden? Anyone know where this picture was taken?
(Answer to the City Scape of the last post: North from the Coit Tower of San Francisco)
Think about a garden. How
do we know if it is a good garden? What do we do to make it better?
How do we tend to its needs?
Ask these questions of a
classroom and our answers are defined by those struggling the most, by those
who are insecure in their efforts or by those afraid to take a risk.
In a middle school, this seems
exaggerated, almost enlarged. Those that struggle a little, seem to fall
farther behind. Those with insecurities naturally, still look for
positive and healthy relationships. Those least likely to take a risk,
resort to avoidance behavior and often become paralyzed with a fear of failure
and won’t even try at all.
As educators, we are fortunate
enough to be right in the middle of student growth. We get to see folks
try, make mistakes, accept encouragement and then finally reach their
goals. We also see them struggle, quit and resort to unhealthy coping
mechanisms because they know no other technique for managing stress in their
lives besides self-mediating. But like a gardener, we are also there to
prepare the soil, prune, fertilize and wait for the fruit to ripen. Let’s
connect gardening with the classroom.
Relating this metaphor to
education, we see soil preparation as forming relationships with our
students. They really don’t care how much we know till they know how much
we care. This care must be expressed in terms our pupils can comprehend, in
their language and at their level. Often times this is uncomfortable for
us as adults, to step into their world and make that connection but frequently,
this act demonstrates care better than any other.
Pruning, like in gardening
removes the weeds, distractions and competition. A thistle in one garden
becomes a centerpiece in another. Similarly, behavior in one setting is
welcome in another since it prevents students from paying attention.
Consistency, fair and just discipline and classroom management are the educators
pruning shears. These skills take practice, just like a gardener learns
which bugs are healthy (ladybug) and which bugs eat leaves (Colorado Beetle)
and how to foster one and discourage the other!
Fertilizer comes in a few forms
for the garden as well as the classroom. Fertilizer is the additive
that gives the plant the boost to flower and fruit, but ensures our students
outperform others in the similar circumstances. This looks like the actual
praise for hard work, support for the insecure, attention given to the needy,
endorsement for right answers, encouragement to persist while making mistakes
and cheering supplied to the showman. Thus part of our responsibility is
to understand the flower and supply the nourishment appropriate for that type
of flower to flourish.
Finally, we water while we wait
for the maturity to happen. We can’t force it, hurry it along or rush
things. But we can water, and tend to our garden while waiting for the
fruit to ripen. Picking apples is a wonderful example. The color
might be there but if it is too hard to remove from the tree, the fruit will
not be ready. Maybe sour or maybe tart but definitely not sweet.
Pre-tests, post-tests, formative and summative assessments are all monitors of
progress, tugs to see if the fruit is ripe and the students are ready.
I have often thought that if heaven had
given me choice of my position, it should have been on a rich spot on earth,
well watered, and near a good market for the productions of a garden. No
occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture
comparable to that of a garden.”
-Thomas JeffersonA person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read. -Mark Twain
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