Rigor, Relevance, Relationships in Action

The new buzzwords in our Dept of Ed are Rigor, Relevance, Relationships – meaning you can teach RIGOROUS material if it is RELEVANT to student’s lives and RELATES to other subjects as well as you having a good RELATIONSHIP with the students.

I think the mural project fits. We’re working on very abstract concepts – enlarging, mapping, gridding, working on one square with a somewhat abstract design without knowing how the next square will look, working on elements and principles of design in a meaningful way, working sequentially. The fact that we’re working on a project that produces a product, visible throughout the school, makes it relevant to the students – and our mural design is based on success and achievement at school. The students are working on a real-life product that brings up various problems, and produces variable results. Nothing is predictable. There is more than one solution to each problem. We figure it out as we go.

And when I can trust students to go in and out of the storeroom, getting what we need – well, I think we have a trusting relationship.

Plus I love seeing students working together, helping each other - students who normally wouldn't work together are willing to cooperate to achieve a greater good.

So I think I’m covered.