“I see beauty in that struggle.”
Kobe Bryant
Kobe has said this a couple of different ways, but whenever he does he is usually talking about a season ending injury and his recovery. Although my students are quite a way from becoming a professional athlete, I found it interesting how this quote mad its’ way into my class.
During one of our math test a student saw me smirking as a couple of students starting throwing mini tantrums when they saw how much work they were going to complete before our test on Friday. And before I could say anything the complaints came rolling in. “All of it… Do by Friday, are you sure?… Why do you hate us?…”
I knew it was a lot but at the same time I knew that with the practice my students would do fine. But after class the student who saw smirk came up to me and asked why I was smiling as I saw them get their work. She asked how could I be so mean. I then challenged her, as a student who understands the material to help her fellow classmates and friends learn the math, and if she did maybe she would get that same smirk.
Throughout the week she did and on Friday morning I asked if her classmates were ready and how things went. She talked about how frustrating it was because at first they did not get the concept, how exhausting it was to just get them to focus and try, how funny some of the outrageous answers were. She mentioned how she was still unsure if the students she helped were going to pass.
I passed out the test and we watched. We watched those same kids who complained look at the test. Two of those students smiled and got to work, the others flipped through the pages stressfully. When the test was over, I graded the assessment. When we looked at the grades they all passed, B+, B+, A, and an A-. My helper was shocked and ecstatic that she was able to help.
I called the students back into class and asked them how they were able to do so well. They attributed their grades to the help and that the test was so much like the classwork. “It was like I knew the question already,” one stated.
When I talked with the class to answer the question about why I smiled when I saw people complaining about the homework, I spilled the beans. I told them that as students they are happy when they see their grades, I told them as their teacher I am happy when I see them get it. I knew that the students who complained knew the material as they had practiced it online already. I took off my shoe (the shoe in the picture above) and told them, I see the beauty in the struggle.
When was the last time you struggled with something? How did you handle it?

“When a flower doesn’t bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”
– Alexander den Heijer.

When my group decided to make a blog centered on our at school experiences, I’ll be honest, I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t think of anything to write. So this being my first blog post ever, I hope I do my group justice.

In my 6th Grade Class, we start a lot of our Language Arts assignments with a percept, so I instinctively am doing the same here.

Today, I told my class that I signed them up for a nationwide challenge in Mathletics, an online math program that is provided by our school. It is a competition where students compete in activities based on the math curriculum to earn points which will hopefully earn them rank and prizes. As you can image, this got their blood flowing, got them pumped up, got them excited. But then I had to tell them that in order to earn points they would have to incorporate the use of Mathletics to their at home and after school agenda. Boo!

At this point the attitude of the class dropped, not all but most weren’t as exhilarated and it was at this point that I thought of Heijer’s quote.

When thinking of needing to “fix the environment” there’s obviously the kids who dislike homework, not that these activities are homework but it can be considered school stuff at home, not cool. Then there are those with the extra curricular, complaining that with the homework they already have, and practice, and dinner, and being tired, and having to shower, and brush teeth, and chores and this and that; there is no time. Just like with anyone who hears this story, I’m sure you know how this environment needs to be fixed but that’s not what struck the chord.

I had a student come up to, on the side, away from the class, to tell me, that he would not be able to earn his share of points. Confident in his skills and work ethic I asked why.

“I don’t have a computer at home. I don’t have a phone or Ipad. I don’t even have wifi…”

In my own classroom there isn’t enough computers or iPads for one to one hence they reason why my students are grouped in the picture. With all the technology being used in schools and classrooms all around the nation, I stopped to think about this competition. And how many students from coast to coast, who like my student don’t have what most people consider to be essential. People who use the internet for entertainment, for cat videos and memes, for hating and commenting and the a thumbs up. People who don’t realized that not having wifi, while being a #firstworldproblem, is an actual close to home, real life problem that needs to be addressed, needs to be fixed.

Take a closer look at your home. Think about the kids you know. Is there a lack of technology at home? As Heijer, so eloquently stated, there is nothing wrong with the flowers, its is how it grows, where it grows, and when it grows…