“I go to school the youth to learn
the future”
-Robert Frost
Changing History
Videos to Inspire Part 1:
What Will YOUR History Be?
The definition I provide my
students with for the word “history” is “history is just the stories of people”.
This may be a bit off for the teachers who passionately love history, but I’m
not one of those. My true passion is in reading and writing, and when asked to
teach social studies this year, having to give up something I was truly
passionate about, I had to consider how I could make this subject meaningful to
my students and meaningful to me. It’s been quite an interesting journey and I’ve
learned a lot – but there’s much more to learn.
I decided to start the year off
with that definition of history and what history meant to my students. After some
discussion, I told my students they will be changing history this year by
writing their own stories (Yes, dear reader, there were many confused faces).
Along with that, I asked my
students what their legacy will be and how will they be remembered? Pretty
daunting questions for anyone, let alone an 11 or 12 year old. As I get older,
I wish that a teacher, parent, or someone in my life had asked me those
questions. I don’t think we’re ever too young to consider the impact we can
have on others – or too old for that matter. As a teacher, one of the most
important things I can do for my students is to give them opportunities to
understand the impact they can have on each other, their school, and even the
world.
We Are All Clark Kents…
The first video we watch very early in the year
is Write
your story, change history - Brad Meltzer’s
engaging TED talk about encouraging
us to dream big, work hard, and stay humble. I provide the students with
key excerpts from the video and stop frequently to discuss these key points. We
then create a product to show what their dreams, goals, and aspirations are and
what they will do this year to achieve them…my students are beginning to write
their history.
Shutruk-Nakhkhunte
To keep the idea of history as
stories going, we watch this video from The
Emperor’s Club found at www.wingclips.com
( A great resource for video clips in the classroom). The clip makes the students think about how
will history remember them? At this
point in the year I introduce them to blogging as a tool to reflect and inspire
others. I also ask my students to list 101 goals that they have to help them
think about what’s out there in the world for them.
What do you want to be forever?
One of the final videos we watched,
during Black History Month, related to the subject of Legacy and Our Histories,
is another great Tedx Talk by Brad Meltzer called How To
Write Your Own Obituary. Despite the “interesting” title, the content of
this is extremely powerful- it hits the idea that ordinary people, like you and
me, can change the world. I show the
first 11 minutes or so and stop it when Brad asks the audience “How do you want
to be remembered?” Can you imagine being told as an eleven year old that you
can make an impact on the world?
Footprints
Students have taken this idea to
heart. I want my students to realize that what they do now will affect them
later. I couldn't be more proud of what my students are achieving this year and I think one of my students says
it best in her recent blog
post
Success
Over the last 15 years, I have had
the opportunity to watch my students create amazing histories. At the time, I just didn't realize. When we as educators stop to consider the impact we are having on others we can really appreciate our successes. It’s one of the
major reasons I love teaching and helps me to feel the real “success” of teaching.
Who knows what history will be written by the 150 awesome kids sitting in front
of me this year?
