Explo Night.

Tomorrow evening, the sixth graders will be doing a presentation on what they have learned in the "Explo" class this year. Although I personally have a soft spot for this specific group of children and moreover find them exceptionally loquacious and talented, I cannot help but have the feeling that I might have, at some pint, actually accomplished something with them this year. Back when I read Ellen Winter's book about Gifted Children, I felt the need to reach that 3% of the classroom population that cannot due to time and other constraints be challenged to the fullest extent. With that purpose in mind, I designed this class, hoping that the other students might rise to the challenge.

And rise they did.

Listening to them practice their speeches yesterday and today nearly bowled me over. Quite literally. They have grown so much as thinkers--they ask big questions and they, themselves have grasped the purpose of the class. To hear from their own mouths about figuring out what, exactly, school is for, is not only refreshing but astonishing when they completely nail what school should actually be about--discovering and becoming comfortable with the self. I had a conversation with a group of them as they wrote their "Opposite Papers" last week about why, indeed, they were in school. At times, of course, it has seemed like we are all in school to learn about the Middle Ages or how to speak Hebrew. I, myself, have lamented not having enough time with them to finish project X or problem Y. However, in the end, it doesn't matter if you were able to create a super-amazing or just pretty good board game. Did you work well with your peers? Did you compromise? Did you discover something new? That's honestly the point of school.

So, in the end, I realized that I shouldn't need to care about whether or not they remember what constitutes a portrait. Did they find an art piece that moved them deeply? I don't need to care about whether or not they remember the types of creation myths that we read. Did they come to a realization about the need to create religion? I don't need to know if they rememember facts abou their legendary figure. Did they realize that it is important to be an agent of change in the world?

I attempted to structure the class itself around a series of questions, asking big questions of myself each unit. I think in the end, I should have been asking the same questions I was asking the students of myself. What, truly, does it mean to be me?