Generosity

Recently, Seth Godin wrote a great post called "Deconstructing Generosity," and in that post he discusses the qualities that make up a generous act (as well as qualities that do not). It's a very thought - provoking post.

To me, when participants in a course share a product that reflects an inner truth or perspective about themselves, I consider it a generous act. Why? Often, students do not have to dig that deeply and be that personal in their work. Compliant students do not see a need to share something so authentic and personal because most tasks do not require that degree of personal sharing and openness, even if the design of the assignment calls for a personal connection. Here is a perspective on this from the Schlechty Center:

In looking at his characteristics for gratitude for students, here are some ideas that may make some more generous with the tools they have: their time, their individuality, and their vulnerabilities.

Sacrifice - I think the element of sacrifice lies behind the "Is this for a grade" question that many students ask about every task. They have finite time, interest, and patience for a task that they see has no payoff. This does not mean everything should be graded - far from it. To me, a couple of things are at play:
- be able to answer to yourself as well as to students, parents and others why you are asking students to do what they do. Here some of the work of Rick Wormeli helps. Here is one of his videos (but many are good) on mastery where he encourages looking specifically at verb usage:

In addition, here is a presentation that Wormeli shared via his Twitter account discussing homework and 21st century skills. To me, the payoff does not need to be a grade. It should point to a larger understanding that we have shown the students they need to know.
 - be sure to spend the time early to get to know what matters most to the students - This way, you can connect their passions and goals to the skills and content in your course, making it more personal, meaningful and relevant. Here is Jeff Wilhelm on relevance:

Kindness - Kindness comes from being flexible when a situation calls for it, using your own discretion to accommodate for students who need it, and responding to their work in ways that help improve the work and their confidence in their work. One of the biggest acts of kindness can be allowing students to redo something. This shows the students we care about their learning and mastery of the work at hand, not about marching through a rigid course whether they remain with us or not. Again, here is Wormeli:

and Part Two:

Kindness also comes in the form of designing participatory experiences that engage our students. This means adding that touch of what Godin calls "magic" to the experience - that extra "beauty and style" to an experience that takes the experience to a deeper and more personal level. This shows the students we care about the experience - it is not a perfunctory lesson we all must sludge through before the end of the year. How can we add the magic? Through elements such as: creative responses, collaborative challenges, engaging opportunities to share and discuss the learning without fear of a grade. Here is an example of a student showing an understanding of First World Problems in music via video:

Recently my son was chosen by his Spanish teacher to go to an elementary school and share a Spanish poem and talk to the students in Spanish. Kindness and generosity permeated the experience. The high school students sacrificed their extra time to learn the needed poetry and other pieces as well as the time they will have to make up work because they were gone. The elementary kids sacrificed time from their busy schedules. Both groups made a real connection from the experience, and it was nothing that needed to be quantified. Here is a picture the AP sent me:

My son is a part-time gymnastic coach. He loves working with children. Being selected meant the world to him, and he will go the extra mile for his Spanish teacher because of this opportunity.

Vulnerability - Godin sees part of vulnerability as "showing up and caring and connecting, even if this time, it might not resonate." This is so perfect for learning. Being fully present is hard for all of us. If we can model that kind of attitude, the students will respond. This also means being acknowledging when a student participates in an area that normally causes him to be reluctant and making sure that student understands that we notice and appreciate that choice. If students can do this, they can grow in the learning, and the learning will be more meaningful. This means frequent and timely communication as well as making attempts to build relationships with all students. Otherwise, the learning cannot resonate, because they would not give it a chance. Maybe it is because the person is an introvert:

Or maybe it is because the student is afraid of losing status or respect because this area is a struggle. For more about working with those kinds of fears, see my post about SCARF. On Wilhelm's site, there are some presentations and other resources that show his research on motivation (primarily with boys) and its connection to learning.

By doing some of these things, we are beginning generous with our students, and many of our students will repay the favor.