Home Hacking Leadership Bootcamp Resources 2018 February

My Kid Hates School But You Can Help

One social share can immediately impact change. “My kid hates school,” I shared on Twitter and Facebook, and suddenly I had support from people around the world.

Here’s what happened. I tweeted this then shared it on Facebook.

School must get all kids to comply. School must organize large quantities of children, manage them, sort them, quiet them and control them. For a lot of kids it may not be a big deal. For some, it’s like stealing their soul. — Anonymous

Some weighed in by raging against the machine:

One regular commenter in this Facebook group had this initial response:

No, you can’t. You can advocate, you can argue, and you can encourage him in a variety of ways. But you can’t change the school or the teachers-it’s not in your power. You can help him to find satisfaction in other ways/venues and maybe within the school or within certain classes. Teach him to hack his own way, eh?

After all of these incredible comments and suggestions, I kept coming back to the previous quote.

And I wonder, is this right? Is school change out of my control? Is it out of our control?

Or, is it possible that we have all the power, and we only have to choose to exercise it?

At the very least, one expert, New York Times bestselling author Jessica Lahey, believes that we need to keep showing the evidence of what’s best for kids to educators. Here’s what the author of Gift of Failure tweeted:

What You Can Do Tomorrow

  • Talk about best practices: Create discussions on social channels and at your school about best practices. Ask, “How can we eliminate old school methods and replace them with progressive pedagogy that inspires student engagement?”
  • Share stories like this one: Share podcasts, blog posts, and Facebook statuses, in which parents and educators discuss their experiences about kids who hate school and what they’re doing about it.
  • Encourage participation: If a kid hates school, encourage her to join a club, go out for a sport, or try out for the play. The more kids participate in things related to school, the more likely they are to start enjoying it.
  • Be present: Talk to teachers, school leaders, and parents in your own school district-especially where you kids attend school-about making learning fun. Don’t let them tell you it’s not about the fun; that’s a load of crap and simply not true.

So, what’s my final take on all of this? I’ll continue to advocate for my son, and I’ll continue pushing his teachers-and all educators-to be the absolute best they can be.

With your help, I believe we can make a difference.

More hacky stuff

Find the Facebook discussion here.

Share your thoughts on Twitter at the #HackLearning feed here.

Subscribe to the podcast here.

Cool websites

    Can Your Students Spot a Fascist?

    Listen to “James Sturtevant Hacking Engagement” on Spreaker.

    If you’ve taught a humanities class, you’ve probably recognized how frequently Adolf Hitler comes up. Unfortunately, many kid’s understanding of Hitler and Fascism doesn’t expand much past the Holocaust, and some students can’t spot a Fascist from across the room.

    In fairness to kids, though, lots of adults also struggle with this, because, like students, they haven’t been exposed to the characteristics of a Fascist (see list below).

    Scott Elliott teaches 9th Grade World History with me. Right before Christmas Break, we were yakking about how we could teach Fascism, our first unit in January, in a more engaging and impactful way.

    Scott found a wonderful resource which formed the backbone of the assignment. The article is by Laurence W. Britt and is entitled Fascism Anyone.

    The assignment we created challenged kids to rate WWII leaders on the 14 Characteristics Britt articulates and also to apply them to current leaders with authoritarian traits. Here’s a link to the Hyperdoc we posted on Google Classroom.

    Britt’s list of 14 Fascist Characteristics

    1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism
    2. Disdain for the importance of human rights
    3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
    4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism
    5. Rampant sexism
    6. A controlled mass media
    7. Obsession with national security. Inevitably, a national security apparatus was under direct control of the ruling elite
    8. Religion and ruling elite tied together
    9. Power of corporations protected
    10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated
    11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts
    12. Obsession with crime and punishment
    13. Rampant cronyism and corruption
    14. Fraudulent elections

    This turned into a solid activity in our World History class, but the lesson can be applied outside of the humanities.

    Perhaps, there are misunderstandings about important concepts in other subjects. I can certainly think of examples in science.

    Applying the Hack Learning model

    The Problem

    Students freely use words like Fascist, Nazi, and Hitler with limited knowledge of these label’s broader meanings.

    The Solution

    Expose kids to what Fascism is and then challenge them to apply it, and challenge them to apply agreed-upon standards to a set of contentious circumstances.

    What you can do Tomorrow

    • If you teach a humanities course and Fascism is a topic, please steal our lesson and morph it to fit your needs.
    • If you teach a non-humanities class, take a controversial or misunderstood topic, expose students to some agreed-upon standards and then challenge them to apply that knowledge.

    Please inspire your kids to pursue objective truth relentlessly. Assignments such as this will nurture this essential disposition!