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!

A few girls love wearing makeup and can do others’ makeup well. They are concerned that some of the students with special physical needs might not have the coordination to do their own makeup. They receive a donation to purchase makeup and give makeovers to the girls in the special education class. Done!

Learn Practical Life Skills

How did these students accomplish such influential ventures? We followed the steps laid out in Laurie Ann Thompson’s book Be A Changemaker: How to Start Something That Matters (2013). This guide book is a must for implementing a changemaker project in your classroom. She holds your hand so each phase feels less daunting and more empowering.

1. Research. Students finally had a practical application for the research objectives we’d practiced all year: using the best keyword searches, finding reliable sources, taking notes, organizing and sharing information with team members. They had to research questions like who would support and oppose the cause, what is the best way to help, and what is already available to solve this problem.

2. Elevator Pitch. In less than a minute every student could eloquently convey the purpose of their venture and what you could do to support it. They showed mastery of concise writing, knowing your audience and purpose, and domain-appropriate vocabulary.

3. Business Plan. Students did the real life work of creating a business plan including team member roles and responsibilities, materials/resources needed, a budget, and a timeline.

4. Meeting Agenda. Every individual or group had to hold a meeting. It could be with their group to make decisions, with an administrator to ask permission for something, or with a source who had valuable information about the problem (e.g. the director of the women’s shelter who told them about specific needs for their residents, the gym teacher who taught them how to organize tournament brackets, etc.) After studying the purpose and format of an agenda, they made their own.

5. Press Release. I’d never seen my students stress over commas and spelling more than when I said their writing was headed for the local newspaper. Every venture had to have a well-written press release worthy of publication.

6. Doing the Work. Obstacles abounded, but they did the work anyway. No one asked if it was for a grade. They just made it happen. The classroom was a loud mess, and many days I was pulled in a million directions putting out fires, giving feedback, and pushing them to take ownership of every ounce of their venture. But when I look back, I can say with confidence that they did the work.

7. Sharing the Joy. We held a Changemaker Summit for community guests: school board members, parents, teachers, school leaders, and participating students. Prior to the Summit each individual/group presented their venture to their class. The classes voted on the best presentations. That winner along with one “teacher pick” from each class had the opportunity to share publicly at the Summit. I highlighted all ventures at the Changemaker Summit, but it was a special honor and responsibility for those who were able to make a presentation.

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If red flags are popping up in your teacher brain about “taking grades,” these seven parts and the brainstorming in “grow themselves” satisfied my two-grades-a-week requirement. I evaluated students’ work against the examples they were given and written expectations of each “assignment.” However, it’s noteworthy to mention that, to my relief, talk of grades was mostly absent during these weeks.

Improve the World

Welcome to the easy part. As teachers we get to sit back and see the bigger picture of lives changed because of these ventures. Before my students went on to become big 8th graders, I had to make sure they knew reading and writing is not a class in school. It is our lifeline to making the world a better place. Dozens of ventures and countless lives prove they learned that lesson.

What about the objectives? I modeled every step of this process by carrying out my own venture along the way. I showed students my thinking as I brainstormed passions and problems, made an agenda and business plan, edited my press release, and scavenged for supplies. Since we undertook this during the 4th quarter, I constantly recalled skills and objectives we’d accomplished throughout the year.

When standardized test day arrived, they were energized. For three weeks prior they had immersed themselves in reading and writing in the real world. They had pulled off victories I had doubted. A little state reading test? No problem. They were changemakers!

Mrs. Amber McMath is a seventh-grade teacher in Owasso Public Schools. She may be reached at amber.mcmath@owassops.org

References

Soul Pancake (2013, January, 24). A Pep Talk from Kid President to You [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o

Thompson, L. A. (2013) Be A Changemaker. New York, NY: Simon Pulse.