Teenage Capability

Neither of us is Right

I happen to have a crazy mindset when it comes to teaching high schoolers. I think they are ignorant…of their own ability to learn and succeed. Instead of giving all the reasons that demonstrate their ignorance, I want to share a story of hope. This story is about trying and failing to get better at teaching sophomores the New Testament over the last 2 years. Over and over again, students tell me that they are not going to be able to accomplish or finish their assignments, projects, and assessments. I don’t believe them, and I usually say that they have no idea how much they're actually capable of. But to be honest, neither do I. I know that it’s higher than they think, but we are both ignorant to the degree of their competence. A fact that today’s project clearly demonstrated.

Each semester, my student work on a project where they have to write a pretend letter to a fellow Christian, pastor, congregation, or the Church at large as though they are the Apostle Paul. I’ve tried to bring creative ideas to the style of the project like typing a formal letter, filming a 60 second short, or writing a letter on lined paper in their notebooks. For each iteration of the semester project, I find things that I like and dislike about the process. This semester, I had them write the letter on a blank sheet of 11x17 paper. The format, layout, and style were up to them. All that I asked was that it contained an introduction (similar to how Paul starts his letters), 3-5 body paragraphs of 5-7 sentences, and a conclusion/blessing (using Paul as inspiration).

Everything was fine until I told them when it was due: the end of the block. Jaws? On the floor. Eyeballs? Like beach balls. Arms? Up in the air. They couldn’t believe I would ask them to do something so challenging in such a short amount of time. There’s usually a bit of groaning and complaining, but after about 15-20 minutes? Silence and focus. We know that it takes about 23 minutes to reach “flow” state and you can feel it happening in real time during this assignment. The array of dutiful, working students is not even the best part of the experience. Around the 40-50 minute mark, students start to approach my desk and sheepishly ask what they should do once they are done. I happily reply, “make it pretty!” They came for theology and instead got a combination of focus, relaxation, and art.

Of course, the reviews from the students are mixed. Most students express that they did not enjoy the process, but it’s hard to argue with the smiles and sharing that happen once the final touches are put on their projects. The pile remains on my desk to grade, but the experience was a success, at least for me. They can do more than they think they can, and any chance I can give them to learn that is a win.