Friday, July 11, 2014

July 2014 Secret Subject Swap. Saved by the bell!

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week, 12 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.




My “Secret Subject” is:
If you were asked to create a high school class that would be applicable for real life. What class would you create and what would be the final assessment?
It was submitted by: http://dinoheromommy.com/ 

High school. Oh those beloved four years, that none of us could wait to be done with, and that most of us wish we could go back to. When enduring them, those years seemed endless and unbearable. Now, looking back at them, I feel like they were some of the best of my life, and I definitely think that I did not take full advantage of the potential they held within them. Don't get me wrong, there is no way I would want to relive them. Absolutely no way. I do wish I had taken more advantage of my youth. Youth is a gift. A beautiful gift. Most of us spend our youth wanting to be an adult. Then when we are an adult, we spend our days wishing for some of the simple joys our youth possessed. 

I personally wish somebody had told me how truly hard being an adult is. There are bills and stress and commitments. There is a blatant lack of freedom that came with my youth. If only I had known then, what I know now, I would have relaxed more and lived. I would have spent my time being a kid, and not trying to be an adult. With Weewee, I plan on making sure she understands the beauty of her youth, and lives it as fully as possible. There will be plenty of time to be an adult later. 

Now, back to high school... Anyone else feel that you worked your butt off to pass classes, and then never used that knowledge again?? I distinctly remember my Math teacher drilling the importance of what she was teaching me into my head. Yeah, so important that I NEVER use it. I would say 99% of the math I learned goes unused. Of that 99%, I have probably forgotten 85% of it. What was the point? I often ask myself this. The idea of creating the curriculum for a high school class, is exciting! I think I was meant to be a teacher, honestly. I am actually considering going back to school, to get a degree in education. Should I? I'm not sure. 

A class that is applicable for real life. So many, many possibilities. How to properly use social media sites, to have the most impact. How to blog (This is one I would need to take!). How to survive the zombie apocalypse (hey, it could happen!). How to create perfect coffee drinks (I am pretty sure that Karen from http://www.bakinginatornado.com can support this as being a much needed class!!). I could probably go on for days with classes that would be a great idea (to me, at least). One class stands out to me, as a class that I would love to teach. How to be a good human.

Yes, how to be a good human. Don't get me wrong, there are many fabulous people in this world. I just think the world would be a better place, if there were even more good people in the world. Can you agree? 

I think we would definitely watch videos. Lots of videos. Videos showing the impact of bullying, crime, rudeness, and various other behaviors attributed to "bad people". I would show the effects of corruption, greed, rudeness, hatred, and other negatives. We would also do lots of good. Lots of volunteering and random acts of kindness. They would learn how to pay it forward in big and small ways. I would try to instill in the students that the smallest good deed can make a huge impact. I would do lessons on how to be a good friend and a good listener. I would teach the importance of honesty. I would help to grow their potential for empathy and selflessness. 

It would be my goal that they all graduate with no desire to be a bully or unkind person. I would hope they would all choose good deeds over evil ones. Even if it only helped one student to be a better person, it would be a success. I would hope to build a society of people that embrace equality and love, and reject judgment and hate. Yes, the more I think about it, the more I wish I really could teach this class. We could all benefit from it. I could throw in some anger management and communication skills lessons. I think I really may be onto something here!

The final assessment would be three parts. Part one would be having to complete a certain number of volunteer hours at at least three different organizations. Part two would be an essay, detailing the importance of being a good person, three behaviors they will forever avoid, and five behaviors they will embrace. Part three would be completing five random acts of kindness. 

It may be a class that gets labeled as easy to pass, but my hopes would be its impact would be huge and far reaching. I see so much good around me every day, but I also see bad. I would truly love to eliminate some of that bad. Could a simple high school class do that? Well, it is my belief that our future starts with our children, so it couldn't hurt. 

What do you think? Good class? Bad class? Worth a shot? Waste of time? Would you like to take it? Would you pass? What class would you like create? 

After you are done answering all my questions in the comments below, make sure you take a trip to all the other blogs participating in this blogging challenge and see what subject they received, and how they answered! I know you will thank me later! 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

http://www.BakingInATornado.com                          Baking In A Tornado
http://themomisodes.com                                       The Momisodes
http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                          Spatulas on Parade
http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/                      Stacy Sews and Schools
http://sparklyjenn.blogspot.com/                                    Sparkly Poetic Weirdo
http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/                        Confessions of a part-time working mom
http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                        Dates 2 Diapers 2
http://www.crumpetsandbollocks.com                      Crumpets and Bullocks
http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com                               Climaxed
http://dinoheromommy.com/                                       Dinosaur Superhero Mommy
http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com                  Someone Else’s Genius
http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com/             The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

Thanks for reading! 

P.S. I challenge all of you to complete one random act of kindness today! ;) 

16 comments:

  1. I completely agree. I think it's so important that we teach our children to be kind. It's really the best legacy we can leave. The other side of this (and I saw the need when a certain "church" held cruel signs about gay students in front of my sons' school) is to teach them how best to react when others are unkind.

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    1. I completely agree. Being kind in the face of meanness isn't easy. We should never lower our standards. I just hope that I'm able to raise Whitlee to be a kind and loving person.

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  2. I think that should be a required class all over the world!!!! GREAT post!!!!!

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  3. I'd take that class, but would have to remember that, without all the negativity people put out, we can't fully appreciate the positive impact your class would teach.

    Just saying. Still would take the class, though!

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    1. Most definitely! Would never get to enjoy rainbows, if it weren't for the rain!

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  4. Definitely would take your class.

    Educating people on how to be kind, compassionate and to be a positive force in this world is important.

    Since we don't have a class like that we will just have to focus on teaching it to the others around us by the way we live our lives and the way we react and treat others.

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    1. Amen!!! I do my best to be a positive example. I'm going to raise my daughter to be the same. I do think this would be a good class though!

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  5. Gold stars for this post, Jules!

    The "how to be a good human" class should actually be compulsory for all students.

    I would only hope that high school kids be mature enough to understand that this is not a school subject, but life lessons. You know what I mean?

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    Replies
    1. I know exactly what you mean!!!
      I'm glad you liked it. Thank you!

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  6. I love that idea. I think schools are trying to incorporate that into elementary school years. My kids' school has a "character education" class, but from what I hear, they do some anti-bullying stuff, but they immediately follow it with, "Don't be a tattletale." Someone also said their kid came home saying, "only bad people who want to hurt others would own a gun." This is West Virginia. Everyone who doesn't live in town pretty much owns a gun, and they use it to scare off wild animals like coyotes, especially if they bother the farm animals, as well as hunting. This school has the most people in the country in the entire county. Like I'm not sure what possessed them to turn character ed into a liberal platform. Anyway, I wish the school would use your curriculum, like I might print a copy of this blog post and give it to the principal, assistant principal, and the guy in charge of elementary education curriculum. Actually, you got my brain rolling on a much larger scale idea with this. TOTES LOVED THIS POST. You are a genius.

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    1. Thank you so much!!! I hope it went well!!! I hope changes can be made!!! Education is so important!!! Building a solid future is so important!!!

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  7. Actually I did get a bigger idea with it... So I guess I know someone who knows someone who is attending some huge conference the first lady is throwing with some representative of every state either at the white house or at Harvard to discuss our education, and I'm calling for a collection of blogs about education. Do you care if I share this post with my collection?

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    1. You are more than welcome to share it! I'm honored to be included!

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