Pulling Weeds is contagious
Its officially spring time! Its the season where property owners show off their landscaping abilities. When driving through neighborhoods, motorists can provide snap judgments about the laziness or sincerity of the homeowner. In a way, landscaping our yards, back porches, or decks is a subtle way to demonstrate a contribution to the neighborhood or apartment complex.
Last week, my American History classes participated in a problem solving exercise called Breakout Edu. The concept of activity develops problem solving and collaborative abilities. First, students were placed into teams. Then students were asked to unlock three different pad locks using three different clues, all of the clues pertained to the year 1960. These clues provided the combination for each of the 3 locks on the Breakout Edu box.
In 1960, President Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev were at adds about just about everything. This contempt ran to epic proportions when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down and then denied by the American Government.
After investigating the clues and the historical content, student teams were asked to compete with one another. The first team to discover the solutions to the pad locks received a promotion in President Eisenhower's cabinet. In the process of searching for the solutions, each student was asked to contribute possible solutions, ideas, or basically anything to their student-led teams.
This brings me back to my original observation. Students don't have to have the best lawnmower, fertilizer, edger, or tulip garden. To make neighborhoods and classrooms "beautified", we simply have to contribute to the upkeep, even if that means getting some gloves and pulling weeds.
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