What did you learn?

4-H interview judging, it can mean many things to different kids and adults. Lots of hard work and sometimes last-minute changes with an occasional family disagreement thrown in for good measure. For those of you reading this that are not familiar, interview judging is when adults volunteer their time to judge a 4-H exhibitor's book work portion of their project and of course assign them a score. I have volunteered my time for over 10 years. I love interacting with the kids and learning more about and from them.

This year was different for me though. After a conversation with a friend about a different topic, I realized that we are doing some things wrong. One thing he said was that he was never very competitive because "My approach was to learn something. What could I take away from today that I can use in the real world?" Yeah. How can this help me in the real world? What a concept.

Parents, students and teachers have become so obsessed with the with scores that we have forgotten about the learning. A letter grade, a ribbon, an award shouldn't matter. The learning should matter.

At the end of judging, a grading period or the fair, instead of asking our kids, "What did you get?", we should ask, "What did you learn?"

Remember your Inspiration

I recently returned from volunteering at a 4-H summer camp. If you are not familiar with 4-H, it is an organized youth development program that allows children in ages 9-18 take projects that are hands-on learning and geared towards real-life application. Projects range from sewing, model rockets to livestock projects that will be exhibited at the county fair. I have helped with this camp for 12 out of the last 15 years. It is a wonderful experience for all of those involved.

This year I found myself thinking about my first year there as a camp counselor. It was the summer between my Junior and Senior year of High School. I was in a cabin of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade campers. I had a blast. I was so happy to see the kids having fun and I enjoyed helping them learn new things and meet new people. I didn't realize how happy I was until after all of the campers left. I stared around the empty and silent cabin. I was beside myself. I knew in that moment that I had to do something with my life that would put me in the presence of children all of the time. That was the moment I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I enjoyed the relationships with the kids and I enjoyed leading others and stepping up when leadership was needed.

I wanted to share this with you because in the midst of new legislation and mandates and summer we sometimes lose our way. We forget why we became educators; for the kids! Let's not get lost in all of it. You might think I'm crazy for spending my summer doing some of the same stuff that I would do during the school year, but let me tell you it has energized me for the coming year. OTES, OAA and SLO's be damned, I will start the  year remembering my inspiration. Although in August I may have to revisit this post myself to get that extra push to really get motivated for the year.