How Raking Leaves Connects To Teaching

The past weekend I spent my Saturday morning raking which gave me an opportunity to do some deep thinking. While I fought a futile battle against the oaks and maples, I thought about connections between what I was doing and the classroom. It was not only interesting but it was very therapeutic.

Here are some of the things that came to my mind while raking.

1. Have a well organized plan. It seems that when you have a plan for your class or for your yard things tend to work better.

2. Technology is  nice but it has limitations. A windy day in the yard and the leaf blower does not work so well. In fact, I have to work twice as hard to pick up leaves. Just like a presentation via Google does not work as well without having some knowledge and some personality to help sell the lesson.

3. Do not expect people helping you rake to read your mind and automatically do the job the way you want it. Unless you explain your ideas, they will not take shape the way you want them to and this holds true in the class. If you do not explain what you want your students to do with an assignment or a lesson, you cannot be angry or disappointed with the results.

4. Stick to the task and do not get sidetracked. Focus on your plan and things will get done. When you start to multi-task, whether it be in your yard or classroom, things tend to blow up on you. Instead of making a point in the class or having the yard finished, you have a half ass product.

5. Take into account the differences you may have with others in your yard or class and make adjustments. I find you can catch more flies with honey rather than vinegar. The more flexible you are, the better the results.

So there you have it, raking and the classroom have many connections. You can learn a lot when you are outside the classroom!