Labor is defined as:: physical or mental exertion, especially when difficult or exhausting; work. Every person alive can speak to physical and mental exertion they have displayed. For some, labor is the physical, like mowing your lawn, cleaning the dishes or moving boxes into a new home. When I think labor I usually recall the time I helped my buddy Chris and his family in college move from Columbus,MS to Birmingham, AL. The house sat on top of a tall almost Sisyphean hill and my boulder was that of refrigerators, hutches, tables and a piano. My lower back reminds me of this move from time to time. On the other hand, some associate labor with mental exertion.. For some of my students, they can recall having projects, tests, and recitals all occurring in a day or weeks time. For me, mental exertion was writing a 50 page research paper in graduate school on ADHD and the modern classroom. Many cups of coffee were drank and some tears shed on my third edit of my final paper. I also think of the time I had to sit and budget my money with my wife for the first time. If my brain was a competitor in a gymnastics meet it would have jumped from the balance beam, did a triple flip, and if I am honest, landed on my proverbial face. We don't always stick the dismount!
One thing not mentioned in this definition of labor is the joy that comes from this hard work. My grandfather was an educated man and an entrepreneur. He owned his own roofing company in New Orleans, LA. He would labor away in the hot Louisiana sun with boiling tar and steel creating shelter for others. This brought him a great deal of satisfaction and I could identify with this greatly. While I am not exactly melting on our rooftop, I do have the pleasure of sweating it out both physically and mentally in my classroom. I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when the day of learning is done.
This last week, was a both arduous but rewarding. The students presented their business plans as a part of our ongoing economics lessons in Social Studies. I was blown away by the complexity of ideas and the effort that was put into the projects but what made it most rewarding for myself and probably the children was that it riddled with trail and error. Students were able to show something that is not in the GPS standards: their grit and determination.
I have pushed many of the students this year to learn to not only accept failure but to see the opportunities that grow from failure and mistakes. Part of my teaching philosphy is to embrace the growth model as it pertains to our brains. I regularly challenge children to take risks, try new things, be creative and not wait for a set of instructions to show you the way to real learning. In a sense, I want kids to be entrepreneurs with their education. I want to build this grit and determination and not raise our students to either meltdown or quit when things become challenging or failure occurs.
Our wonderful vice principal shared a great video on how Math is being integrated into our knowledge of businesses and it got me thinking about the possibilities for this year. I will leave you my humble readers with a few videos of some of the things that made me think about how labor is celebrated in the United States . Please know that there is inherent worth in the effort and hard work you do each and every day. Doing your best each day on helps your brain to grow and your self-esteem and confidence to build.