Wow.
Today's goal was very quickly deflated. I supposed it's true what Elphaba says, "No good deed goes unpunished." Today's goal was to take the newfound enthusiasm from the day of "spreading the happy" and channel it into the classroom today. Well, that didn't quite work. Frankly, it slammed right up against a gigantic Great Wall of China.
I teach my students to reflect on each experience and I'm the model here so here goes for a reflection.
When I came into class, I had expected to find my students equally inspired and thrilled by the prospect of sharing what they had learned through this process with someone who had no vested interest in their grade. I thought the idea of sharing what they'd learned with a perfect stranger, face to face, would show them the confidence they had accrued during their 15 day trek.
Instead, the concept and my enthusiasm were met with hostility and fear. I supposed I expected them to have seen the confidence and the growth that I saw. Maybe they don't know how much they've grown in just these last 13 days. Maybe they don't think they can do it. Maybe they are just afraid.
I'm still going to push them to share this with someone they don't know - tell the world how much they've learned and how much they've grown. Who knows - maybe that's really what they're asking me for by being so hostile and afraid.
Perhaps beneath that anger is the tiniest of voices whispering, "push me."
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