
This isn't the first time I have mentioned Seth Godin on my blog. I will be the first to admit that I am obsessed with his work. I've also recently learned that I am not the only teacher who has a marketing blog at the top of his reading list.
Why? Contrary to popular belief, I think teachers are salespeople. I think we have to sell ourselves, our lessons, and our vision for a classroom community. I think we need to be aware of the world outside us and the trends that influence the children who are sitting in front of us. Most of all, I think we have to realize that kids have a choice. They might not be able to choose whether or not to be in your class, but they can choose to give you their attention. That is why I like Seth Godin, and that is why I enjoy reading a marketing blog in my spare time. More than anyone else in the world, marketers know what it means to fight for your attention. I'm a fighter.
Seth's latest blog post made me get excited about the new school year. He talks about how few online ventures are overnight successes. The world is abuzz over web 2.0, with companies thinking that they can create a living, breathing online community overnight. It doesn't work that way. Likewise, you can't create a living, breathing classroom community overnight. I am guilty of trying to force things. I want the class to bond by the end of the first week of school. I want them to hang on my every word by the end of the first day. And if I start a new project or change the way I teach a concept, I want it to be a success from the minute we begin.
Well, it doesn't work that way and therein lies the problem: Your class will be wild on the first day. You'll set rules and procedures that no one will follow. Your magnificent idea for teaching the concept of multiplication will be an utter flop. Yet you have a choice. You can let the bumps in the road get you down, or you can pressure on with the knowledge that you are dong the right thing.
Four years ago, my students and I built a garden in the back of the school with a Native American theme (including a wigwam, canoe, native plants, and more!). It was a fun, meaningful project for that first group of students. The next class? Not so much. The class after that? Nope. I had put so much thought into the actual building of the village that I never figured out how to make it meaningful year after year. I was tempted to knock it down and move onto something else. Not only was I unable to make it meaningful for my subsequent classes, but my dream of having the entire school utilize the garden never materialized. It was a major bummer, to say the least.
Rather than give up, I decided to press on. Last year, we kicked off the year by having each child in the third grade become tour guides in the village, giving tours to other classes. Later in the year, they all contributed to our spring planting of corn, beans and squash. For the first time since the garden was created, an entire grade felt like they were part of the action. The garden and its key features (wigwam, canoe, etc.) even inspired us to create various crafts, plan an archaeological dig, and play games. Finally, four years later, the vision started to become a reality. It wasn't there yet, but we were on the way.
But that's not all. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but I saw more classes than ever heading outside for various projects last year. One fourth grade class worked with us to plant a tree and create a new garden on the side of the school. Several fifth grade classes took ownership of the garden beds outside their classrooms. A reading instructor took it upon herself to plant forsythia in an area where rain was washing away the soil. Another teacher spent several days hauling rocks from a construction site in her car. She used the rocks to outline one of the garden beds. That same teacher arrived at my doorstep the other day to see if I had an extra watering can, as she was heading over to the school to water a few hastas that she had transplanted.
For me, treating this project like a marathon - rather than a sprint - made all the difference in the world. I might not be in the business of educating children (from a "profit" standpoint), and I might be more interested in "helping" children than beating the competition, yet I still think you can learn a lot from the business world. As Seth Godin says, we want to make something for the long haul.


