School’s been in back session for us for about a week now
and teachers and students alike are getting back into routine. Classroom norms
and expectations have been established, and it seems as though it’s back to “business
as usual”.
Expect for that I feel
like I want to help provide my students with more that “the usual” experience
of learning at school this year. I want to engage them in meaningful learning,
challenge them to embrace new experiences and see the world and themselves in a
new light. I’ve been encouraging my students to set meaningful goals this year,
to get involved with the school community and to embrace this year as a new
opportunity to make something incredible happen in their lives. Sometimes this
is easier said than done with sleepy teenagers first thing in the morning (or
even after lunch on some days..)
Today, however, my school had the unique opportunity to
welcome the “Live Different” team back into our gym for the third year in a
row. This group of Canadian young adults delivers an important message to
students: that they matter and that they can change the world. Through
motivational stories, sharing personal experiences and an upbeat rock band, (this year is was an awesome duo called Everglow) the
Live Different Team encourages students to find and own their voice and story
and to defeat negativity in their lives and the world around them. This
empowering message is relevant to teens and hopefully gets them to look beyond
the surface and see what they are truly capable of in life.
The organization also has a summer academy for students
which enables them to travel while making the world a better place. They also
have an internship opportunity for young adults and travel opportunities to
help build houses, schools or other community projects in the developing world.
What’s even more amazing than this group’s ability to
inspire students is that they are all really amazing and down to earth people.
I had the opportunity to chat to a few of their team members after the assembly
and they are truly passionate people. Check them out online at http://livedifferent.com/
While I’ve only known the students in my current classes for
a few short days, I can already start to see the amazing talents and gifts they
have. Young people are capable of true greatness and
after listening to the motivational speakers from Live Different today I feel
satisfied that our future, not to mention our present is in good hands.
It can be hard to
listen to your own voice and to “own your story” as the team encouraged us to
do today; but if they can do it and I can ask my students to do it- we as
teachers should be willing to do it as well. So now the only question is, what
does your story sound like?
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