Many years ago I read an Ellen Goodman column in which she said 98 percent of life is just showing up. This lesson has stuck with me for decades and is one I think today's kids haven't learned. In the essay Goodman posits that if people show up and do their best, if they just get out of bed every morning with a willingness to do something, life will happen, progress will be made, and the world will be a better place. Many days in my life I have experienced this phenomenon by dragging myself out of bed, into a shower, and off to work even when I didn't want to go. I learned that by showing up and engaging the world, I become a better person.
If students could do this on a daily basis, their lives would become better too. While many of them manage to bring their bodies to class every morning (for which I should be grateful since this is a step in the right direction), they leave their brains somewhere else. This lack of engagement is the biggest problem educators face. We realize that learning about American literature or how to effectively incorporate a quote into an essay may not seem like life-changing material to high schoolers, but it could have a much greater impact on their reality if only they actually give it a chance. This chance requires them to show up mentally and put some effort into whatever comes their way over the course of the school day. If they could show up in this capacity, they might discover all sorts of possibilities available in the world. Perhaps this is too much to ask of teenagers. After all, I'm not sure when I learned that showing up every day means creating a life. I guess youth really is wasted on the young.
If students could do this on a daily basis, their lives would become better too. While many of them manage to bring their bodies to class every morning (for which I should be grateful since this is a step in the right direction), they leave their brains somewhere else. This lack of engagement is the biggest problem educators face. We realize that learning about American literature or how to effectively incorporate a quote into an essay may not seem like life-changing material to high schoolers, but it could have a much greater impact on their reality if only they actually give it a chance. This chance requires them to show up mentally and put some effort into whatever comes their way over the course of the school day. If they could show up in this capacity, they might discover all sorts of possibilities available in the world. Perhaps this is too much to ask of teenagers. After all, I'm not sure when I learned that showing up every day means creating a life. I guess youth really is wasted on the young.
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