"What I learned as the worst student in the class"

If you teach or train, this might be a good essay to read. The author includes five lessons she learned from not excelling in a class, the last of which I quote below. What do you think?

Write a new personal narrative.
For me, one of the most empowering outcomes of my year of climbing has been the new narrative I can tell about myself. I am no longer  “Adrianne: scholar, book lover, pianist, and Wikipedian”. I am now “Adrianne: scholar, book lover, pianist, Wikipedian, and rock climber”. This was brought home most vividly to me one day when I was climbing outdoors here in Los Angeles and people on the beach were marveling at those of us climbing. Suddenly I realized, I used to be the person saying how crazy or impossible such feats were and now I was the one doing them. I had radically switched subject positions in a way I did not think possible for myself. That, I realized, is what I want my students to experience - that radical switch and growth. It is an enormous goal and I would love to hear how others work at achieving it with their students.

Click to read the rest of "What I learned as the worst student in the class" (HASTAC).

Unfortunately here is a link to an article in The Washington Post about the essay's author Adrianne Wadewitz's recent and untimely death.

Comments

[Amanda Bucklow]

What a wonderful article and what an extraordinary woman. How incredibly sad to learn that her cherished rock climbing hobby was where she met her early death.

[StephanieWestAllen]

Yes, a sad irony, Amanda.

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Stephanie West Allen, JD
http://www.brainsonpurpose.com
http://www.alleninchallenge.com
http://www.idealawg.net
Denver, CO USA

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