Our district’s teachers returned to work today. At a gathering of the teachers in our high school cluster, the superintendent of our district invited some very brave secondary students on the stage to answer some questions. One of the questions was, “If you could change anything about your campus, what would it be?”
Two of the students responded that they would encourage more teachers to “make connections” with their students. They added that students want to perform better for teachers who “care about us.” Another student responded that he would like all teachers to come to school “passionate about what they teach” because the teachers’ passions for their subjects inspire their students, and when students see that “teachers don’t care, then we don’t care either.” The fourth student said that he would like an extra period added to each day because “there isn’t enough time to do all I want to do.”
When I saw the website, That One Rule, I thought about the responses from these students, and wondered what might be “That One Rule” educators and students might submit for making our educational system work. Scrolling through the other submissions on That One Rule, I did not see any inappropriate ones, but you should be careful about showing it to younger students just in case. Perhaps a screen shot, or collecting a few of them on Pinterest (sharing buttons are conveniently located on each rule), would be a good conversation starter in your classroom, or your faculty meeting, or in the teacher’s lounge…
When it’s all said and done, what is your One Rule?
