Following the beginnings of our PBL course (Pebble-throw a pebble into a pond, watch the ripples etc) I decided to get my students to change the end of the ‘Why are we doing Pebble intro’ and go for something a little more ethereal. I attach some of the results. The one above I read out to parents as an example of what students said they wanted to happen in the classroom this year. There were a few stunned parents, mouthing ‘wow’ to themselves. I also added jokingly, “No pressure then” to a ripple of chuckles. I have a whole bank of these, written by every member of the class. Something incredibly powerful to remind me and them, what we want our classroom, our education to be about and how we will have to act to ensure we reach were we think we want to go.

They were inspired by @Sparky teaching’s wonderful ‘This is not a classroom’ posters and this video as an example of slam poetry. Their poems, which summed up their feelings of what they would get from the Pebble course had to have rhythm (try speaking them with a South London accent, works for me) and some rhyming words to help it flow. There were a couple of kids who tried to get away with ‘You need skills, to pay the bills’, but they were very quickly put in their place and we ended up with a book-full of these beauties. Each student read them out with as much ‘Street’ passion as kids from Jersey can muster, me MCing between each one. Huge respeck. (oh dear god).

Okay, I’m no English teacher, far from it, but their sentiment, their passion for learning exudes out of every syllable. This for me, is my benchmark. Our expectations for learning. Our mantra. What a beautiful start to the term this has created.

I tweeted the poem above last weekend and it was swallowed up and retweeted by educators across the world. When I told the unassuming young Year 8 girl who wrote this poem, her face literally sparkled. Following on from the ‘To praise or not to praise’ debate of recent days, a recognition and celebration of the passion for learning of our young people, I hope is acceptable. What a set of values to hold dear as we embark on a wonderful new mission for learning this year. Better than ‘The Class Rules’?

Most definitely.

Here are a few more to keep you going.

 

And I know this one isn’t quite as glossy(she made it on my iPad), but I love what Gina says about believing in yourself and being supportive.