Every year I go to West Hawk Lake, Manitoba and enjoy some much needed time with my husband and our families. We always have tons of fun watching our nieces and nephews enjoy being outside, whether it be tubing behind our boat or sitting around the fire. One of the kids brought out his BMX bike for the summer. After watching them BMX around for awhile I saw that when they failed at a trick, they didn't stop trying (one kid tried the same trick 16 times). One of the kids mastered the trick and decided to add a new twist to it. This was all before 9:30am. I was still in my pajamas enjoying a coffee. But something interesting happened when we were there. I watched my nephew (Grade 11) and three of his friends (Grade 12, 9, and 7) work together to create a BMX jump. .
There is a man who collects items from the nearby dump that people can reuse. So they decided to walk over to his place and see if he had anything that they could use to create a BMX jump. About 30 minutes later, the four boys came down the hill with an old table on a wagon. The table was foldable and the legs could fold right underneath the table so it could fold flat. Most adults there didn't see what the kids saw. The kids saw a pre-made jump. They took the table and put one set of legs up and kept the other set down. I watched them test the durability of the jump (to make sure it was safe) for about 20 minutes and after the testing of it, they put it back on the wagon and dragged it down to the dock. They strapped buoys to their BMX bike so it wouldn't sink once they landed in the water. My nephew Corey asked me, "Are you going to watch me jump this? My reply, "Absolutely, I'm going to watch you jump it and film it!"
When people heard what the boys were doing, a massive crowd from the campground filled the area around the dock to see "the jump." Many people were talking about how insane it was because the hill was really steep. And, some were worried that they might get hurt. And I was thinking, "School should be more like BMXing. Look at how much fun they are having. An adult gave them a few tools and they were motivated to learn for themselves." I watched my nephew Corey come down the hill and take the jump and after he landed in the water he said, "That was so much fun." But it didn't stop there, they kept jumping it and found better ways to land in the water.
We need students to feel the same way about school. School should be fun and enjoyable. Kids should leave school everyday and have something YouTube worthy to upload. We need to challenge ourselves as teachers and co-create learning experiences with students that they can be passionate about. Like Charles Schulz said, "Like a ten speed bike, most of us have gears we do not use." Shifting gears can be hard but once you start shifting, it only gets easier.
(Check out the BMX jump below)
There is a man who collects items from the nearby dump that people can reuse. So they decided to walk over to his place and see if he had anything that they could use to create a BMX jump. About 30 minutes later, the four boys came down the hill with an old table on a wagon. The table was foldable and the legs could fold right underneath the table so it could fold flat. Most adults there didn't see what the kids saw. The kids saw a pre-made jump. They took the table and put one set of legs up and kept the other set down. I watched them test the durability of the jump (to make sure it was safe) for about 20 minutes and after the testing of it, they put it back on the wagon and dragged it down to the dock. They strapped buoys to their BMX bike so it wouldn't sink once they landed in the water. My nephew Corey asked me, "Are you going to watch me jump this? My reply, "Absolutely, I'm going to watch you jump it and film it!"
When people heard what the boys were doing, a massive crowd from the campground filled the area around the dock to see "the jump." Many people were talking about how insane it was because the hill was really steep. And, some were worried that they might get hurt. And I was thinking, "School should be more like BMXing. Look at how much fun they are having. An adult gave them a few tools and they were motivated to learn for themselves." I watched my nephew Corey come down the hill and take the jump and after he landed in the water he said, "That was so much fun." But it didn't stop there, they kept jumping it and found better ways to land in the water.
We need students to feel the same way about school. School should be fun and enjoyable. Kids should leave school everyday and have something YouTube worthy to upload. We need to challenge ourselves as teachers and co-create learning experiences with students that they can be passionate about. Like Charles Schulz said, "Like a ten speed bike, most of us have gears we do not use." Shifting gears can be hard but once you start shifting, it only gets easier.
(Check out the BMX jump below)