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Leaving A Legacy
Leaving A Legacy
By Glen Irvin
By Glen Irvin
The end of the school year has always been a mixture of joy and melancholy for me. I was always proud of all of the accomplishments that my students had achieved but it also left me feeling empty as the last day of school always felt like it came and went with no fan fair. This year has been extremely challenging with distance and hybrid learning and our students may be showing signs of becoming disconnected to our classes, the content and what can become the daily grind of school.
So how can we make these last few weeks of school meaningful?
So how can we make these last few weeks of school meaningful?
I suggest giving your students the opportunity to leave a legacy. This can come in many forms from a service project for your community to a project that the students are able to do and complete in your class.
When I taught Spanish, as part of a unit of cultural study, students in my Spanish classes researched, wrote about and presented on Latinx or Spanish artists. Students included biographical information as well as a description of the artist’s style, their contemporaries, and their influences.
Student Choice
Student Choice
What makes this assignment inspiring is that students chose a painting that they felt they were capable of replicating at their own artistic level. Their version would be displayed on a ceiling tile in my Spanish classroom. Over a period of ten years, students proudly worked on their paintings, filling the ceiling with their amazing artwork.
Every student not only completed the assignment, but the project was so meaningful that students came back year after year to see their work again and the new tiles that the current seniors had created. Whatever content area you teach, think about how you can give your students an opportunity to leave a legacy in your classroom, the school or the community, and watch as their lack of engagement gives way to creativity and enthusiasm.
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