Why We Tribe

Why am I a member of the 

Compelled Tribe of bloggers? 

In this tribe,

• I am family. I need not earn my position; I am a member.
• I am not alone. I have a group of people committed to helping me reflect and excel as an educator.
• I am a contributing member. I work alongside my fellow tribesmen (and tribeswomen), reading, writing, commenting, and encouraging.
• I find comfort. I find passion. I find courage to continue. I find ideas. 
• I am inspired. When I read what others are thinking, doing, saying (etc.), I am challenged and stretched.
• I am allowed to be different. I don't have to write in a certain way, and I don't have to think with a certain mindset.
• I am reminded that I am not alone. I remember what I do and why.
• Likewise, I can encourage, strengthen and inspire others. I can give back to my tribe.
• With my tribe's encouragement, I return to my clasroom, my students and my colleagues revitalized.
• With my tribe's influence, I am pushed to remember my commitment to blogging, and encouraged to give it my best effort.

Photo by Natalie Pedigo on Unsplash

You can learn more about the Compelled Tribe.

• Do you have a Tribe?
• What benefits do you reap from them? Or, if you don't have a Tribe, what would you want in one?
• What imagery comes to mind when you hear the word "tribe"? How might that drive your Tribe choices?

I Believe you; I DON'T believe in ME

This blog is dedicated to a cherished student. I'm going to call him "Pedro" to provide him anonymity. He and I had a conversation that I will not forget...

In a class of 25 students, I am surely going to have varying ranges of interest and ability, and more importantly, of confidence and willingness to try new things. I also have 25 unique personalities, and an innumerable amount of personality combinations and clashes.

Planning lessons is far more than an outline of agenda items. It's more like arranging a complex piece of music for an orchestra. 

• How can I structure lessons and tasks so that students can grow in their learning, providing just enough challenge to stretch them, yet not demoralizing them by setting the bar out of reach? 
• In what ways can I provide creative activities that can give opportunities for all students to exercise their growing skills? 
• What structures can I have in place to enable students to embrace risks and see failure as a necessary step in true learning? 
• How can I develop an environment in which students thrive on learning, and not on completing tasks for the sake of a grade? 
• What does each student need from me in order to help him/her succeed?

Pedro is intelligent. He is capable. He is creative. He is talented in many ways.
Pedro doesn't always enjoy school, desks, structured classes. That's okay!
Spanish isn't his primary interest. That's okay, too! 

Nearing the end of the school year, I often gave students independent/group tasks that were creative and communicative (in Spanish):

• "Discuss with your friends which movie you'd like to see..."
• "Your family goes on a picnic..."
• "You and your friends are lost in the woods..."
• "Have a conversation with a store clerk as you purchase various items..."

Many students embrace these activities; they enjoy being creative (and a little silly), and they stretch their learning, "Mrs. Kurtz, could we...?" Yes!

For some students, like Pedro, these activities cause stress, panic, and even anger and shutdown.

Seeing Pedro NOT working (and instead playing on his phone), I went to him and urged him to get busy. He said, "I don't know what to do."

So, I repeated the instructions, a little impatiently (to my chagrin), and walked away to circulate among the students.

A few minutes later I returned, and the student is still on his phone. No work is proceeding.

"Pedro, you need to get busy."

"I don't understand. I can't do this. I don't know how to begin."

"You can do this. Ask your friend, Esteban, for help with an idea to get started."

Again, I left and checked on the other students. All are creating; many are laughing; work is progressing everywhere--except with Pedro.

Exasperated (again, to my chagrin), I returned to Pedro.

"You need to do this. Get started. Just write SOMETHING to begin."

"I don't know what to write. I can't do it." (at this point, his temper is in full force, and I feel like a volcano about to erupt)

"Pedro, you CAN do this. I will NOT give you something that you cannot do. This IS attainable. Believe me."

"Mrs. Kurtz, I DO believe you. I DON'T believe in me."

Ah, at that moment my heart was broken. 

How could we be nearing the end of the school year, and yet this student still has this type of reservation? What have I done? What haven't I done? 

What more could I do?

"Pedro. I BELIEVE IN YOU. I KNOW THAT YOU CAN DO THIS. 
I will believe in you for you. 
Trust me.
Let me help you get started."

I broke down the task again. I asked him to tell me a sentence he could use in this scenario. He did. I asked him to write it on paper. He did.

I walked away.

Ten minutes later, he was finished. It was fine. No, it was good. No, it was terrific.

Pedro had conquered what seemed to him an insurmountable challenge.

This wasn't our first struggle in this area. This wouldn't be the end of our struggles.

But perhaps this is what I CAN do: continue to provide the challenges and the confidence for both of us. Reiterate the message. Acknowledge and celebrate the conquests. Believe.

Pedro is a great kid. I will continue to believe in him. 

• Who believed in you when you couldn't believe in yourself?
• What is your reaction to new and challenging tasks?
• How have you helped your students to develop the confidence to be risk-takers and to embrace failure?

For all the "Pedros" of our classrooms: 

You CAN do it, 

and 

we WILL help you!