This got me wondering- what would happen if we let students have a say-all the time? Of course there are things they should learn but, what if we gave them a say to explore their interests, a voice to express their talents and a means to showcase their learning that is all their own? Would we still be a country playing "catch up" to the Eastern world? Would we be lacking engineers, artists, critical thinkers? Would our kids be hesitant to read or write? Would they be afraid to express their interests if they were outside the "cool" realm of hobbies? Would kids be afraid to be proud of themselves?
I don't have the answers. I just don't know. But this one small hour of my day makes me think that our kids would do nothing but benefit from having a say in their education. I have to believe that if we gave them a chance- we would be blown away.
Taking a line from Kid President here and giving it my own twist:
The kids need to know that we believe in them enough to give them a chance, a real chance to become something great, to live up to their potential, to explore who they are - a real chance to LOVE their education. When they leave us they should believe they got the best chance to become a great contributor to the world.