I really would. First, teaching.

A few years ago, as I’ve said before, I started trying new approaches.

Some were inspired by colleagues but our in-person collaboration time is rare (almost an anomaly since I started a family). I’m proud to say most ideas came from my students.

“Proud” for a few reasons:

Students were thinking about the content.
Students were willing to share their ideas.
Students knew I would listen and try them; we’d take the idea and build and design together.

The changes in my teaching were gradual even though the perception is that I’ve “always been this way.”

This misperception, that the changes were easy or came naturally to me (or worse, that the changes were difficult), has made me reflect on why some of us seem more willing to take risks in the classroom.

This post is not about TQE, but it illustrates my point: our reading approach is a departure from students’ norm which we have fine tuned together. We read, discuss, and enjoy a novel, but how we do so is different and the students are initially wary: no teacher-generated question lists, no reading (or what many call, “gotcha!”) quizzes, and no multiple choice tests on novels.

Some have struggled to adjust, but the majority of my students were sold on the process after only a few weeks. Our discussions are collegiate and enjoyed. This was not their norm. It wasn’t my norm, either, for my first few years, but I’m happily getting used to it.

Here are some statements from our past two weeks:

One student who “hates reading” asked me on his way to break, “how many more books do we get to read this year?” (Did you just say “get to?”)
A group of students in one class will write an essay together arguing Lord of the Flies better fits WWI events than WWII. Appalled by how wrong they are, a group from another class will write the opposite.

One group member asked for my permission to have a debate; WWI vs. WWII but really, as we all know, it’s Period 2 vs. Period 4.

You should have heard both class’ reactions to this idea (and seen my appreciation of their excitement). I’ll be setting up an in-school field trip to invite both classes to hear their debate.

To be clear: That last one isn’t the student asking permission and it’s not “trying to avoid other work”; it’s collaboration.

Will it take trying something new? Yes. It will take adjustments in our calendar, arrangements with administrators, notifying colleagues. It could also be a bust... but it won’t be a waste of my time.

Doubt and Division

Since I started sharing our experiences and my materials almost a year ago, there have been trends in teachers’ reactions. Some are positive and add to the discussion. We exchange ideas on how to really get students thinking: discussion approaches, student-generated prompts, etc.

Some responses aren’t positive and yet they aren’t negative either which made me think about the unstated stories in their comments. The reactions differ slightly in their words but not in their sentiment:

My students can’t do that.

Want to know something? My students couldn’t either. And maybe it’s not “couldn’t;” maybe it’s “wouldn’t?” But either way, discussions about literature without compliance-centered assessments, especially collegiate discussions, “weren’t” happening.

Then my epiphany: Students “can’t” when we “don’t.”

In order for our students to be able to do something more, to move to the next level and show us their true ability, we will need to do something different. If the experience is what they’re used to, their growth is stagnant. And school is routine, boring.

So here are my unsolicited thoughts:

Try something new in the spring.
- You know your students and they know you. You could, at this point in the school year, let them know you want to try a different activity or approach and be explicit about your nerves or expectations of success. Ask them if they want to try something new for you. I’ve never had a class decline that invitation.
- You’ll get the chance to see the approach in action. Instead of wondering what it might be like during your summer, you’ll have experience and be able to reflect and adjust.
See your students as collaborators.
- Remember, permission is often collaboration in disguise.Tell them the goals of the course or unit and see what they design.
- Our students are experts in the school experience. They have been in it for years. Ask their opinions and ask for suggestions.
Expect some minor discomfort and confusion.
- It won’t be chaos but it will be new for you and for your students. Give yourself a break.
- When the lesson is over, ask the students again for feedback and suggestions. Trust their responses. They were there. They know.

And what if it works? What if students enjoy it and you can see the connections of life skills and content? What if you can build upon it together to be even better? Then what?

One slightly successful risk leads to more.

Discomfort creates barriers.
- Repeated discomfort strengthens discomfort.
- Moving outside of our comfort zones more often helps break down those barriers.

That statement which made me stop everything to grab a pen?

In our reflection of our reading approach, I asked my students their thoughts on why some of their peers still weren’t completely onboard yet. A student made an analogy which resonated with all of us:

It’s like a bad experience with food. If you’ve tried it once and you didn’t like it, you made your decision: I don’t like it. But if you try it again, you might like it a different way (which is when we started talking about broccoli). The problem probably is that they’ve only had reading one way, over and over the same way, and they don’t want to try it again.

I get it. It’s this way for me with oysters. No quantity of horseradish has helped and I don't want to keep trying them. But it's not the flavor. It's something else; the chewy.

I wonder if it’s the same for teachers who used to take risks. Maybe it didn’t go well and they made their decision.

But here's the problem: this isn't broccoli or oysters or (insert your food nightmare). It's the education of a generation.

So maybe it’s time to try again. Maybe it’s simply time to taste-test ideas again.

And maybe we need some new broccoli recipes. So you know, the ones I include below are not recipes I have tried. They might work out. They might not. I might adjust them a bit to fit my needs and tastes. I thought we might as well try them to see if we like them.

Because that's the point.

Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup in under 20 Minutes from Whole Food Bellies

Broccoli & Bacon Stir Fry from Food and Wine

Grilled Mustard Broccoli from Bon Appetit

(If you like comedy and you've had this strong desire to start searching YouTube, don't worry. Here's the link to Dana Carvey's "Choppin' Brocc-o-li" for you to enjoy as you cook. You're welcome.)