Where Are My Villagers?

You know the saying. It takes a village to raise a child. If that’s true, and I believe it is, then why do I feel like a single parent raising 36 unruly children? Where the *&^% are my villagers?

I’ll tell you where they are. They’re busy with their own lives, completely unaware that their talents could be of use in their local schools. Why? Because no one invited them into the classroom.
In my experience, people love feeling useful, needed even. And everyone loves helping kids out. That’s why everyone buys junk from fundraisers, but that’s another issue altogether. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Why would you want community members involved?

We learn from authentic learning experiences. We need to see and touch and hear and smell and taste. Trust me, you will never learn about the mechanics of bowling if you never go bowling. Yet our school-based learning experiences are often totally devoid of these hands-on experiences. We teach by talking to and reading with our students. Why? Because the best lessons take time, effort, and resources to create, something teachers are usually lacking. It’s not that we don’t want to create these kinds of lessons. We do, but we don’t always know how. So call in an expert or two.

If we want to enrich our curriculum with real-world examples and experiences, all we need to do is simply ask our local, talented villages to grace us with their presence and our hallways would overflow with community members. Often, it’s as simple as that.

Here’s what I suggest we all do. Work with your grade level, or subject area teammates and select one or two topics you would like to enhance. Are there local experts you could call in to talk to your students? Yes? Call them, email them, visit them. Chances are they had no idea their vast knowledge was of use to children.

But what about fingerprinting, time off from work, and issues of the like?

Here are a few ways to make it even easier for people to get involved without ever stepping foot in the classroom.

1.    Arrange an assembly. Ask your expert to come in and talk to the students. It can be a lecture, a demonstration, or simply a Q&A session.

2.   Send emails to people with questions for them to respond to. Kids get experience writing letters, and either the best letter gets sent or all the questions are combined into one class letter. Sure, you might now get a response but chances are good, you probably will, especially if you personally speak with the person ahead of time.

3.   Ask community members to record themselves on a video. With iPhones and iPads all the rage, it’s easy to make and send quick videos.

4.   Send questionnaires out to community members. Get the kids involved and ask them to pass out and collect 5 surveys. As a class, record and arrange the information so that it can be shared with other classes or the school. This makes planning a Career Day easy.

So how would you use an expert in your classroom? What kinds of lessons or events could you plan? I'm busy working out details for a Career Day and next year's Mock Election. Anyone want to help?  Please leave a comment with any thoughts or ideas you might have.