The power of empowerment

When I think back to how things transpired in the classroom during my secondary school days, I don’t really get that excited.  All I can remember is going to a room for an hour listening to the instructor lecturing about that days given objective and then completing a worksheet afterwards.  Now don’t get me wrong, there were days when I would be anxious to get to class.  Those where days when we had group activities, some type of presentation, or “someone” had peaked my interest.  But let me tell you, those days were few and far in between! 

I remember being introduced to the school debate team during my junior year of high school.  It’s funny how I reluctantly went to that first meeting thinking that I was going to be in a room full of boring individuals that wore thick glasses, were socially awkward, and lacked the fashion sense that I thought I had…lol.   That first meeting, changed my whole perspective about literacy!  For the first time I was allowed to give my opinions and thoughts freely and without judgement.  I was accepted for my unique perspective which empowered me to want to learn more.  I was encouraged to talk (some might say argue) about topics that were being discussed.  Our debate coach taught me that my thoughts had value and that if I developed them, I could achieve almost anything.  My first year, I made it to regionals in Lincoln Douglas debate!

This experience taught me that by allowing others to trust and believe in themselves they would be more susceptible to achieving more than they thought possible.  When you can create an environment that allows creativity and individualism to reign, that raises to the bar for infinite learning.  This is the kind of classroom all teachers should want to have!