Reasons

There are many excellent lines in Sassafrass' song My Brother My Enemy--a song that talks about Loki and Odin's reasons for turning on each other.  At the end of the day, it is a song about reasons.

Reasons are OH so important for helping students to understand what they are supposed to do and why they are supposed to do it. They're essential for faculty too.  Honestly, if you want someone to do something, the best way to get them to do it is to give them a *real* reason for it.

Today, my remaining students and I were discussing Finals.  (Our seniors have already left!  Thus, I have a month with my non-seniors!)  "Magistra?" asked M, "This is a really bad question, I know, but do we have a final exam?"

I explained that not as such.  Their project was their final exam.  Their Mythology project shows off their research skills, English writing skills, Latin composition skills, all of their grammar and vocabulary they have learned this year, and their Roman Culture knowledge.

"Yeah, you bet it does.  I've had to think more on this project than I ever have," commented J.

So, I explained, the project would be their final assessment.  It was important to me, I told them, that their final be meaningful and synthesize the information they learned, not that they vomit information back onto a page.

My students were relieved.  K commented, "This has honestly been the most meaningful thing I've done all year."  "I'm really glad we did this," A noted.  O, tiredly, complained that although he should technically, gradewise, be exempt from his History final, he wasn't.  When he had inquired why, his teacher had given him the 'reason' "Because that's the way I've always done it."  O said that he would have understood if he had received the reason, "Because I have this meaningful assessment that will really show me what you have learned this year and I could use it to improve how I structure my class."  But that was so not the reason.  I mean, come on.  Couldn't the teacher have said something better than "It's the way I've always done it,"?!?!

Reasons are excellent and useful things.  Sadly, we, as a culture, are quite poor at using good, real reasons.  Instead, we settle for excuses and 'reasons' that promote fear and lack of true knowledge.

How will we promote the use of true reasons in our classrooms and our daily lives?