In this lesson, we were given a video to watch about a young girl named Adora. Adora just so happend to be younger than fourteen and was already traveling and doing speeches around the world talking about children her age. Adults vs. Children. This lesson was also rather interesting to me. It amazed me at how much knowledge Adora had at such a young age.
EDUC 2130 – Lesson 13 – Teaching for Academic Learning
Evaluation
What did Adora say about “dreams” – Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
Adora said we should all have dreams, kids and adults. Not only should we have dreams, but we should chase them. When young children mention a dream, we should encourage them to go after that dream and pursue it. It’s so important for children, as adults, to go chase their dreams.
Adora said that learning between kids and adults should be ________. Explain what she means.
Learning between kids and adults should be reciprocal. We should all be learning, not only children. Adults could actually learn a lot from the children that surround us. We could learn something from them every day. The children of today are our future leaders.
What did Adora say about “trust”? Explain.
Adults and children either have the ability to trust one another or the lack of trusting one another. Adults usually don’t trust children because they underestimate them of their abilities because they’re so young. We shouldn’t judge a child based on their age because sometimes we can be wrong. Not all young children are immature. Like Adora, she’s young, yet she’s the most mature child I’ve ever heard speak. Adults should learn to trust the things that children say to them because they’re more intelligent than we think they are.
What did Adora say about “Low Expectations”? Explain.
Adora says that adults often underestimate young children of their abilities, which can lead to other restrictions. Not all parents are as helpful and encouraging as Adora’s parent were to her dreams. I think parents need to realize that their children are once going to grow up and be the change that this world needs, and instead of discouraging them, they need to encourage.
What happened when Adora wanted to publish her first book? Explain.
She explained that many publishers turned her down because she was a child trying to publish a book. Not many children want to sit down and write books and publish them at such a young age, so they turned her down and didn’t take her seriously. Later, a publisher came along and published her book, which is where it brought her now.
In her “Let kids be kids” talk, what does Adora say about the “rich kids’ documentary”?
Adora mentions that rich kids may grow up thinking that they have no responsibilities or have to work in the future. They may even get bored a lot because they feel like they have no responsibilities to take care of. They usually depend on others to get the job done. The parent of these children should make their kids experience responsibilities. What most people don’t realize, or children don’t realize, responsibility can be a very positive thing and every one should have to experience it.
What does “Let kids be kids” mean to Adora? Explain.
“Let kids be kids” is something that all adults say to children. I think because they want them to enjoy their childhood as much as they can because it doesn’t last forever. To Adora, I think “let kids be kids” means that adults should give some moving room. Don’t give them as many responsibilities as you would an adult, but let them do what they want. If a child at the age of six mentions that they want to raise money for an awareness, encourage them instead of saying “well that’s great. Maybe you can do that when you get older.”
Summary
This girl really amazed me! She’s so knowledgeable for her age. I’m kind of speechless because I’ve never listened to a 12 year old that sounded like they were at least 35 before. I think she’s doing a great job with traveling and teaching adults about the children now, and instead of “crushing” their dreams, encourage them to go after them, even if it is at the age of six. I thought these videos were good for me to watch because since I’m going into Early Childhood, I need to know that it is important to encourage young students to go after their dreams, instead of saying what most adults would “well that’s great. Maybe you can do that when you get older.”
Research Question
How can teachers encourage their students to chase their dreams at an elementary level?
Reference(s): http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/charney/charney001.shtml
Research Analysis
Teachers should create a “Hopes and Dreams” strategy to begin each year with. This may not sound like much but being able to hear what student’s hopes and dreams are for their year, and maybe for their lives, is interesting. Just because they may be young doesn’t mean they don’t have hopes or dreams for themselves. Some of the smallest children have more hopes and dreams than a grown-up.
Starting each year off with the “Hopes and Dreams” strategy will encourage students to pursue that hope or dream before the school year ends. It may be something small or something big, but we as teachers need to do everything we can to help them believe in themselves to make that dream come true for them.
There’s not much that we can do for helping them achieve the dream, but we can talk to them about it, and continue to encourage them throughout the years.
Research Summary
I think it’s very important that we as teachers don’t try to crush our student’s dreams at such a young age, but support them. Even if it sounds like such a crazy idea to us, it probably means the whole world to them.