Nobody Went to College and Majored in “Cool”

As the college kids are beginning to come home for the long Thanksgiving holiday, I am starting to see them wandering the streets of our small town, in the businesses, and some even come up and visit at the school. I look forward to this time of year for many reasons. I love to catch up with last year’s seniors (who are most likely to visit). I love to get surprised by students who graduated several years ago and I haven’t see in a long time. I also love to have alumni return with their own families (yes, I am that old). It is usually at this time of year, that I get that brief moment of “this is all worth it” that all teachers hope for. This is when some of the hard work pays of for a few seconds.

When students are in high school, I get so tired of the students saying to me, “that sucks,” or “that is lame.” I want to scream each time they deflect my efforts to help them better themselves. Every one of my students will admit that at some point I have given them all advice. Some solicited and some unsolicited. Some didn’t want to hear it, some did, others heard but didn’t listen, and others listened. (You can’t win them all.)

I can’t tell you how many times I have said to my senior students, “You can’t major in cool in college. You are going to have to work and you may as well get prepared now, while you have help adjusting to the new work ethic.” I’ll bet you can guess the reaction I get: the rolling eyes, the deep sighs, and the mumbled comments. That is when I have to make a choice: shut my mouth and let them learn on their own or just keep talking hoping they will hear some part of my message. Again, I’ll bet you can guess… I keep talking and hoping.

Jeff Piontek, a superintendent from Hawaii once said, “I didn’t learn to think until I went to college.” When he said this, I was mortified for a moment. I was scared to admit that the same was true for me. I was even more horrified when I started to think about all the people who did not go to college... maybe the connection between when people start thinking is more connected to age rather than the college… So does that mean people don’t start to think until they are older? I need to take a step back and think more about this statement.

They key words are, “learn to think.” If we choose to believe that we didn’t learn to think until college, then that must mean we are not teaching our students to think while they are in high school. (Long pause to analyze this idea.) If you were to survey 100 high school teachers, how many do you think will say that they teach their students to think? If you tore this down to core values, how many would say that they teach students to think about their content area instead of just learning the content material as it is presented? When do we actually take the time to teach them to think about it and make new meaning? This means we would have to get every student above knowledge, comprehension, and application. The teacher would have to make sure students get to analysis, synthesis and evaluation. A lot of education happens between application and analysis and even more by the time students take the time to evaluate what is being told to them or read by them.

As a writing teacher, I work with my kids to develop their own voice. To find the right word choices and phrasing to say what they really mean, not what they think others want to hear. I work with their ideas so they can prove, in writing, that what they interpret, believe and think is valid. I work with my students so their writing is fluent and so they can develop the most powerful message for their readers. I work with my students on their grammar, spelling and punctuation so that their message is not lost in a sea of mistakes. I work with my students to develop their ideas and not just allow them to regurgitate the ideas of others. They all have something to say, they just may not be as ready and able to share it in writing.

As a teacher of literature, I do the very same thing. I give my students options. I want them to think for themselves so I don’t ask them comprehension questions when they read novel. I don’t really care if they can name the characters; what I do care about is what they learned from reading the book. What new information did each each learn for themselves? What did they glean from the words and phrases? What did they think about as they read they will carry with them into the future? What meaning did they find as they read? What interpretations did they discover, even if it is not what I interepreted? How does this reading assignment help them as they move on with their future (even if the student is going into construction, fast food, the law, medicine, professional athletics, agriculture, etc.)?

When the college students come home, they are welcomed with open arms by not only me but the high school students. They are looked up to. They are idolized. They are questioned about the wonders of being out in the real world and how much fun it is. They are deemed to be “cool.” They are what others aspire to be. Too bad those college students don’t tell the high school students that they can’t major in cool. They have to work and they have to work hard or they won’t be in college for long…