Reconnecting Students with Learning

Every year I taught, the staff assigned a kid (or sometimes a few kids) as my "son" for the year.  These were typically young men who were disruptive, used harsh intonation and language, and were frequent-flyers in the Discipline system.  I dubbed them as my "knuckleheads", often realizing they were just twitchy and hyperactive, but more than willing to work.  When I took the time to get to know their stories, each young man grew on me, like a tumor.  I grew to love many of them.

One thing I could never come to terms with is how easily they were labeled as a bad kid.  Their behaviors blamed on things like, "He's [insert cultural reference here], so he doesn't like women," or "His [insert family member] can't control him, either," or "He obviously has [insert psychological diagnosis, usually ODD]."  Never did they say things like, "Maybe my 30 minute monologue on the appropriate use of commas wasn't very engaging today," or "Maybe I'll just talk to him and find out what might spark a little interest in learning to improve his writing/reading/math/art/music skills."  Blame uncontrollable aspects of life outside the classroom for behaviors that prevented learning in the classroom.

 Last night, I met one of my formers, AJ, for a burger and a conversation about Algebra and why he got suspended from school.  He was definitely one of my twitchier clowns.  But he brought a smile to my face almost every day.

He was the type of kid who was easily bored, and he needed to move, A LOT.  So I frequently found him wandering the halls.  He was tough to get working, but if he was interested, he would work and try to push himself.  Given a more flexible use of space, he might stretch out, make loud noises, but he could get some work done (even if it was during my prep, and I didn't get a lot done).

He is a good kid, he just needed to be known and to be given a chance to drive his own work.

The most successful work from AJ typically involved a separate project he worked on instead of the work everyone else pursued in class.  One in particular sticks out in my mind where I gave him the task of building a bridge from one desk to another that would support the weight and movement of an R/C Monster Truck crossing it.  I watched this young man research different types of bridges on his own.  He documented his research in his notebook without being asked.  He tested various materials to use to create the bridge.  He had a specific time frame to complete his project, and it was not done on time, so he had no final product.  But he did have student-driven content, multiple iterations, experience doing research about a topic he was interested in, and memories of learning he would not easily forget.

He just needed a chance to do things differently.  His other teachers allowed him to work on my projects during their class time, so he wouldn't "bother" them.  AHHH!!!  This kid began writing his Memoirs, designing his own investigations, iterating fan blades for a windmill to generate electricity, making metaphorical connections to new learning, among many other tasks he completed for me.  

And now, he is suspended, after being absent from many of his classes for much of the year because he is bored with the class, and no one seems to notice or care when he is gone.  I know there is another side to the story.  But I have heard it before.  I know him.  I know what he is capable of doing. 

I told him about my experience visiting a unique learning space in Boston, NuVu Innovation Studio.  I shared a studio project I observed where students were tasked with creating empathy in people for animals that were endangered.  AJ began talking about how if we don't stop eating bacon, pigs will go extinct.  While that is not likely to happen, it did steer the conversation to pig farming, and how I have read articles about people having to wear bio-hazard suits to avoid the spread of disease on pig farms.  This sparked conversation about visiting a pig farm to see them first-hand.  How are the pigs treated on these farms?  Why is there a problem with spreading disease?  In 2 minutes, this young man created a project line different from my original line of questioning, and had begun to direct his own content and research on a topic.  Over a hamburger.

And now, I'm frustrated.  I'm frustrated with a system that let this young man down.  A young man perfectly capable of learning.  A young man perfectly capable of leading his own learning.  Where are learning spaces like NuVu in NYC for kids like AJ that whose families can't afford tuition?  How do we reach out to our most disenfranchised students, not give up on them, and find new ways to reach them and reconnect them to learning?  

Aj plans to drop high school.  AJ plans to join JobCorps, move to Florida, and learn a trade.  He wants to build things and work with his hands.  Our system of "school" taught him he couldn't be part of the system as it stands.  

I'm thinking about Immortal Technique's words right now, "...when you try to change the system from within, it's not you who changes the system; it's the system that will eventually change you."  Do we need a new system for learning?  A different system all together?  Or do we continue to try and innovate inside the box?  I innovated inside the box for him, but my pocket of innovation wasn't enough for AJ.  Could I have done more?  Big questions to ponder.