I teach first graders. Six-year-olds have this amazing capacity for seeing the world and relating to it in a way that we lose as adults.
I decided to do a multimedia project and have the kids write a class declaration based from the US Declaration of Independence. Some of the other teachers, and my advisor didn't think it was 'grade-appropriate'. All I did was facilitate them in listing what they wanted to say, and I suggested some editing changes. They wrote all of it, and it expressed who they are and the kind of people they wanted to people. They want to help the environment and be kind to friends on the playground. I didn't have to tell them what to say. It turned out beautifully, and I had them each record a line, and draw a picture to go along with what they were saying. It shocked some of the adults, but the kids never doubted they could do it. Not even once. It was the adults who wanted to place that doubt and say it couldn't be done. It was the adults that didn't believe it could happen, or that they were capable of doing it. It was the adults that were jaded.
Kids look at things so simply. It reminds me of the old joke about how to put an elephant in the refrigerator (you open the door and put in the elephant). We think it sounds silly, but maybe we just haven't tried the obvious yet. Maybe we need to try the simplest thing first before we see what can be changed. Maybe we just need to try the simplest thing because it gets us moving and out of our little world. Just do it. Do something. Anything! Half the problem is actually getting started, and getting beyond the doubts.
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