Four key things I heard mentioned:
1. Every child needs a champion
2. Everyone needs human connections and relationships
3. The teen thinks students should be taught how to speak and think for themselves
4. Creativity is being sucked out of students as they become increasingly focused on the numbers needed to get into colleges.
5. Teen spoke about a teacher who was clearly passionate about his topic (economics) and could rattle off current things that he had read or watched that were related to the economic topic at hand. Kids weren't going to be tested on the information, yet could feel his passion through his making the connections--it became more real, too.
I love the idea of bringing more real-world relevance to the concepts and topics I teach. This could come in the form of more contemporary artists when we are looking at drawing styles, for instance. There is an artist, Tony Orrico, who creates his art by lying belly-down on a large piece of paper and creating amazing works by turning his body after drawing with his arms. I have never shown his work to beginning art students, but wouldn't it be great to, then to try to do it ourselves? I think I run up against my nemesis--time. If I take the time to watch one of his videos and try his technique, what will I give up? Is it worth giving something up if I am engaging the students more, inspiring them to pursue more art? I think it might be worth a try!
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