The enthusiasm that Zander brought to his discussion makes us remember that some people can truly inspire others. Knute Rockne’s half-time speeches weren’t just made up. It’s just a reminder that we as teachers are in that position every day.
I like the idea of looking at classes, people, and school as possibilities. It lets us open our minds and try new things. I really liked his idea of giving all his students an A and asking them to write him a letter stating why they earned that grade (written in October as if it would not be read until May)
It is an inspiring speech. We certainly have a tendency to judge people and put them in categories, often to compare them to us and convince ourselves that we are doing pretty well! Zander’s method with regards to grades also warrants some thinking. Could we experiment with that somehow? The language dept. attended a workshop by John DeMado last year in which he suggests a similar approach to Zander, that is looking at what each student is able to become during the year.
3 comments
Comments 1 - 3 of 3 previous next Post a comment