This week Mr. Allen brought up the topic of philosophy and how to make it your own. When he first brought the topic into our conversation I sat back in my chair thinking I already knew all I needed to know about philosophy, little did I know I wasn't even close. As the conversation progressed and a definition was set for the term, it became a fact that I was drowning in a sea knowledge that I had yet to come to realization with. The days following I kept questioning the true definition of philosophy and how I can pertain it to my life. I was lost until Mr. Allen shined light on the idea about his philosophy on education. He described how he came about his major web page for all of his students to access and learn from on a daily basis. He went into detail about how he feels kids learn best and how an idea and topic can always grow when given room to prosper. By removing a privacy lock on the site, Mr. Allen had given his thoughts and all he has to offer to all of us with high hopes that we too can carry his knowledge with us and make it our own one day.
Given Mr. Allen's take on philosophy, it made me think about how I could pertain such philosophy to my life. I thought about all the activities I am involved in and came to thinking about Cure Club. I realized all along I too had my own philosophy on a subject matter and have never come face to face with it until now. I have been president of cure club for the past two years and one thing I have accomplished in the two years in removing the "points system" (when you get a point for going to events and doing silly little things just to be considered a member). My philosophy on the matter was, if a kid signs up to do an event it really means nothing if their heart isn't in the right place. We often volunteer for several events and I would rather have three kids cheering runners on and smiling because they are happy to be there, instead of 20 kids sitting down not caring and not getting the job anywhere near done. If a kid is passionate about an event or a cause they will be all in and will take it upon themselves to consider themselves a member or not. If Cure Club is the last thing on someones mind, then it wouldn't even make their applications for college and scholarships. Passion drives the heart to do what it believes is needed, but by bribing kids to do activities that require a lot out of you can not simple be replicated by offering them a point.
Brittany I thought that your blog was extremely relevant to almost all students at Glenbrook South. Not just with clubs, but every day at school. Yes school can be boring, but if we are not passionate about what were learning, we may as well not even been in school, for it is not benefitting us, the teacher or our other classmates and isn't that the long term goal? School is for growth, not only of the single student but everyone else around them.
ReplyDeleteWhen you talked about the point system you dropped for cure club, it really got me thinking about how many things I do in life where I just go through the motions, so I can say "Yeah I was there, I did that" and how much a waste of my time that has been. People definitely need to reconsider the things they do because there are so many negative outcomes if your not passionate about the things you spend your time on.