Think BIG!

There are probably hundreds of blogposts just like this one.  Educators love to blog about how important it is for kids today to think big.  The purpose of this post is really to share the brilliant video below about "Moonshot Thinking".  I know it's been posted thousands of times before . . . in a variety of mind-blowing insightful blog posts.  Even if you've seen it before, watch it again.  Right now.  You won't regret it. 

See?  Worth every second, isn't it?   The the big question is how do we change the culture of classrooms that students can think THAT big?

I teach in an international school in Seoul, South Korea.  Most of my students are Korean-American, and the emphasis on education and school is a part of the Korean culture that permeates our international school community.  There are many positives to this (huge respect for education and teachers) but one of the downsides is the fact our students are not comfortable taking risks.  The pressure for kids to "perform" and bring home top grades is significant, even for my young 6th graders.

An important part of Moonshot Thinking is not being afraid to fail.  I think you almost have to SEEK failure.  You can't expect kids to create and innovate 10x without expecting failure.  And I would guess a LOT of failure.  The good kind of failure, where learning happens so students can iterate, make changes and move forward.   How do we get students to value this?  We can bring it back to . . .

We have to change our students thinking so that they value effort, creativity, risk-taking, and innovation over the "correct answer" and "good grades".  This is monumental change in most classroom communities.  And it's no easy task. How do you encourage students to take risks in your classroom?  What does Moonshot Thinking look like in your classroom?

all icons by www.nounproject.com - girl thinker by tuktuk design - brain idea by catalin boroi