Partnership Educators,
Sunday was the day for watching Television for my brother and I. Mostly we were outside kids playing baseball, tag, or football at our neighborhood school, Sequoia. But on Sunday, was the night when my parents would let us sit at TV Trays with our dinner and watch our shows.
In the 1960's there were only four channels and the TV guide was the gospel for knowing what to watch and when to watch it. Truthfully, we already knew what shows we were going to watch because Sunday was the day that had our imagination ignited with wonder. To this day, when I hear The Wonderful World of Disney's opening music, I will stop to see what it is showing. Walt himself would start the program to explain something that the studios were doing or at the park. Either way we were transfixed on his words and the animated show that followed. Next, followed the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins. As a kid I didn't know that Mutual of Omaha was a company that sponsored the show and I didn't care. I just loved watching and learning from it. Lastly, we would watch Daniel Boone. It is this show that brings me to today's message.
I had the opportunity to visit Turtle Bay School this morning and listen to a group of fourth graders in Heather Yeager's class put on a living museum. I was blown away by how posed and professional they were in the presentation of their characters but I was also impressed by the level of content that they presented. The variety of historical figures was astounding. We had Ceasar Chevez, Albert Einstein, Anne Frank, Marie Curie, and Henry Ford just to name a few. The one I remember the most was Daniel Boone. Of course while the young man was presenting I was hearing the television theme song in my head but then I learned something new about Daniel Boone that I didn't know before. All of those years of watching the show, I didn't know that Daniel Boone was a Member of the State Assembly in Kentucky. Daniel Boone was certainly an over hyped and flawed person from our history and my point isn't to evaluate him. I am trying to point out that I thought I knew a great deal about this man but was still able to learn something new from a nice young man in fourth grade at Turtle Bay.
The students that we teach are not empty vessels waiting to be filled. They all come with many life experiences that have provided them with knowledge that is waiting to be discovered. Sometimes we just need to give them opportunities to use their skills and the confidence to use them. I was talking with another teacher who was sharing that his sixth and seventh graders began their science unit by reading the directions for the hands-on experiment and talking through what those directions were telling them to do and learn. Not only did those kids step up and figure out how to run the experiments but they produced beautiful projects from that work.
Thank you for your continued efforts in engaging our students in critical thinking and the application of the life long learning skills that will always serve them. When given the chance and set up for success, kids are amazing individuals who can and will surprise us.
To those of you who made it to the staff and family night at Sequoia Ninja Gym, I hope you had a good time. I certainly loved watching and talking with all of you that came.
Enjoy your weekend,
Rob