Mrs. Amber McMath
One Requirement: Change the World “This is life people! You’ve got air coming through your nose. You’ve got a heartbeat. That means it’s time to do something!” I show my students this pep talk from Kid President (Soul Pancake, 2013). Only three precious weeks remain before the state test. We’ve practiced testing strategies all year, so we don’t watch this YouTube clip to get pumped up for a standardized test. Kid President’s words fuel our next assignment: change the world. Instead of a test prep packet, students receive a handout with that simple directive, “This assignment has one requirement: you must change the world for the better.” The directive is interesting enough to hook them, vague enough to fill their minds with What If’s, difficult enough to stretch them beyond a test prep packet. The purpose of this assignment is to afford students opportunities to grow themselves, learn practical life skills, and improve the world. In short, students will carry out a venture of their choosing. It can be anything, as long as it makes the world a better place. Following I describe the three parts of this project. Grow Themselves Students first tap into three parts of themselves they might never have explored. ● Passions: What do you love to do? What would you be doing right now if you weren’t here? ● Skills: What do you know how to do? What are you good at? Where are your talents and abilities? ● Problems: What issues keep you up at night? What wrongs anger you? What makes your heart ache? Their venture lies at the center of this triple Venn diagram. Here are some actual ventures from my students based on their answers to the aforementioned questions. Two students love animals and enjoy walking their dogs. They volunteer at a local animal shelter on weekends. Venture: Walk people’s dogs and give any money earned to the animal shelter. Done! Five students love basketball and are skilled players. They want to help the community food pantry. Venture: Organize a school-wide three-point shootout and half-court shot contest where admission is one non-perishable food item. Done! Three students are angered that the 13 schools in our geographically spread out district share only 5 nurses. They enjoy writing and are gifted communicators. Venture: Speak at the school board meeting about the need for a full-time nurse at every site. Done! A student is passionate about poetry and wants to raise awareness about the dangers of human trafficking. He writes a moving poem and overcomes his shy tendencies to read it over the intercom to all 700+ students. Done!
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