Happy Students

Happy Students Make the Best Students:

In this thing called education, it is often difficult to explain any aspect of it in black and white terms - as we tend to function in shades of gray.  That being said - over the years I have observed (at least in my classes) a few maxims that seem to hold true.  One of these is that "happy students make the best students."  One of the easiest pitfalls into which many of us teachers can fall is to simply drill and assess content, in order to create data driven results.  While it is true that instruction and assessment of all types are crucial to any quality education, it is also clear that an individual student's happiness (or lack thereof) is an impressive predictor of academic outcome.  If a student is unhappy, a test on FDR's Works Progress Adminstration may not be his main concern.  It is more likely that the source of his unhappiness will overwhelm all other areas of his life, including academics.  And the thing is, high school students may be THE most prone to unpleasant and unhappy thoughts - as they are having to navigate that unique blend of cliques, breakups, drama, early mornings, pressure to go to a good college, and my test.  So, in order to reach their potential - how do we help these students find some balance, and loosen them up a bit?

My suggestion is to play like it is summer camp.  These students must have opportunities to operate in a free environment, so that they can escape the daily grind, and experience team building and challenge.  In my classes, we try to break up the daily routine that is the traditional public high school, by incorporating: games (both indoors and outdoors), art projects, outdoor activities, sports, etc.  We often joke that my classes tend to look a lot more like a summer camp than they do a history class.  But this is by design - because I truly desire my students to be happy.  I believe that because of their more content minds, that a willingness to work harder will follow.  It has held true, as most of my classes have learned that you have to pay to play - but as hard as we work, we will play harder. Plus, we do live in one of the most beautiful places on earth; it seems a waste of resources to not be outside from time to time. And we are all happier people afterwards, and we are more prepared to take on the giant leaps that academic rigor requires.