3 Ways Instilling Purpose in my Class has been Helpful
“Why do we come to school?”
“To learn.”
This conversation probably happens in my class a couple of times a week. It doesn’t matter what we are learning. Of course, we still have goals and learning objectives. We still have classroom agreements. In the end, though, “to learn” is “why” we come to school. It is our purpose, and it’s valuable for students to understand and respect that purpose.
Here are three ways that instilling purpose in my classrooms has made my classroom life easier.
1. Classroom Management
The weeks leading up to Summer Break are always crazy. It has been a long year. The kids are getting sick of each other. The warm sunny days are calling everyone outside. We are all tired. Conditions are ripe for kids to lose focus and get off task.
It’s not that kids don’t know the norms. They’re just over it. And to be honest, we teachers are getting there, too. But, we have to keep going.
Being able to say, “Why are we here?” and have a student reply, “To learn,” allows them to take ownership of their behavior and decide what they should be doing. That there are still something to do before we get to enjoy our summer.
I remember an incident that started during whole-class instruction time on the carpet.
We have some pillows and bean bags in this area kids are allowed to use. While I am giving the instructions for the task, some kids begin fighting over a pillow. I give them the look; they stop for a bit; I continue. A moment later, they are making faces at each other, obviously still focused on the pillow incident, and now distracting those around them.
“Are you following Rule No. 3 ‘showing respect to your classmates, teacher, and yourself?’” I ask them.
Grumpy heads shake no and turn to face front.
“Why are we here? Why do we come to school?”
“To learn,” they mumble, but their body language begins to change. The students shuffle away from each other. For the remaining few minutes, they are on the carpet before they start their activity–they are listening.
2. Knowing the “Why”
Every kid has their own interests. Some lessons are going to be boring. Some are going to be more challenging.
Of course, there are a million reasons why we need to know what we are teaching in primary school. It is the foundation for all higher learning.
I don’t know about your students, but surprisingly, mine don’t respond well to this explanation in the middle of struggling with a research project or math problem.
When the understanding of learning is to grow our brains and “get smart,” reminding them of the purpose “to learn” reframes what we are doing as something intrinsically worthwhile. “To learn” is enough.
3. Shifting Perspective
“I can’t do this.”
“I don’t know.”
“This is impossible.”
You spend the whole year teaching about growth mindset, reading books about it, doing activities that highlight the differences.
Why don’t your students seem to remember it?
The reality is, we all have a fixed mindset about some things. As Carol Dweck has pointed out, it is a false mindset to believe that it is possible to have a growth mindset all the time. There are some times when we are going to feel stuck.
Teaching about growth mindset gives us a touchstone for when things are tough. Sometimes reminding kids about the “Power of Yet” can be enough—other times, not so much.
Here is where “to learn” can be helpful. When a kid is stuck in the “impossibles,” it will not be a quick conversation. However, as part of a larger conversation around what they are feeling and reminding them about why we come to school can revive motivation.
You Can Start Now
I know what you are thinking. It is the end of the year. How can I start this now?
Chances are you have already done a lot of the preparation, especially if you have been working to develop a growth mindset with your kids or teaching any lessons on meta-cognition. If we want our brains to continue growing, we need to keep learning.
Morning meetings are a great time to bring up topics like this—in my experience, that’s when the kids are most receptive to this type of thinking. Rather than telling the students your class will have a purpose, ask them: “Why do we come to school?”
Give them some time to think, pair, share, and record their answers on chart paper. Of course, there will be answers about friends, lunch, and recess. There will also be many answers beginning with “To learn…” or possibly even “to learn” will pop up there. Try not to direct the conversation just yet. Fill up the chart paper with their answers until you feel that there is enough to start looking for patterns.
Depending on the age of your students, you might want to work as a whole class or again have the students think in small groups as they then answer the question: “What do most of these answers have in common?” They will most likely come up with something similar to “to learn.”
Go back to the original question, “Why do we come to school?” and ask the students if they agree with the answer you have come up with together.
Having the kids craft the purpose is the key to its effectiveness. Your class’s answer could be “to learn.” It could also be “to grow,” “to know new things,” or something else entirely.
Once everyone agrees on an answer to “Why do we come to school?” you have your purpose.
The Big Picture: Lifelong Learners
In the end, we want our students to become lifelong learners. Every school I have worked at has had “lifelong learners” in its mission statement. It’s referenced in job postings. It is necessary for learning new hobbies and life skills. There are a ton of reasons we want our future generations to embrace lifelong learning. Future jobs. Hobbies. Skills needed for big life changes.
Are there things that some kids learn in school that they will never need in “real life?” Probably.
But if the purpose of coming to school is to gain knowledge, skills, and a deeper understanding of the world around them—in other words, “to learn”—then we can instill a sense of curiosity and wonder that leads our students to become lifelong learners.