daydreaming is valuable

~ melley80

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Twenty-first century education is not about the test; it’s about something bigger. -George Couros

Mindset. Innovation. Change. Opportunity. Adventure. These words provide a freedom and an open door for me as an educator to challenge the status quo.  Am I challenging the status quo and keeping what is BEST for students at the foundation of decision making?  I truly believe it is an essential question we must ask ourselves on a daily basis.

Challenge the Status Quo

I have a student who is a phenomenal rapper.  It is his passion, and he is good…real good…like he will make it to the big time good.  I often catch him daydreaming during math, he is in a completely different world than working on graphing fractions on a number line.  I refocus him from his dreaming because in my mind I need him to be graphing fractions.  I mean, how important could his daydreaming really be when fraction work is in front of him?

I swam my way through High School, my stroke was fly because I was the only  freshman that could somewhat swim the stroke without looking like I was drowning and we needed a 50 flyer for the relay sectional race.  It became my signature stroke.  Now, I wasn’t a great swimmer, didn’t break any records, but I enjoyed the practice and the team relationships.  I will never forget our amazing coach Mrs. Lien.  She would take us through a visual practice where she would have us visualize our event we would be competing in from start to finish.  We would visualize feeling strong and swimming fluidly through the water and finishing by winning the race.  I loved this practice, because it helped me feel confident and it set my mind to focus on my strengths and what I could do, not what I couldn’t.  I won races and I lost races, but I gave every race my best.

I wonder how many times do we disrupt daydreaming in class because it seems disrespectful and rude?  What if daydreaming is a way a student can feel confident in what they can do?  What if daydreaming is a way a student can wonder and then make it a reality?  Some kids rely on daydreaming to cope with life, because in their daydreaming they are strong, confident and win.

How can I be an educator that encourages daydreaming on a daily basis for my students?

Let us challenge the status quo together!  Thank you for reading.

Xo,

Mel

5 thoughts on “daydreaming is valuable”

  1. I love challenging the status quo-as a teacher and as a human being. Challenging the status quo means not fearing failure, but choosing to do what is right in spite of potential consequences. Challenging the status quo can be very difficult, especially if your job is at risk. I agree that the best thing we can do for kids is to do what we think or know is right by them, and if that means allowing the dreamer to dream, then who knows where their dreams will take them? And you helped them get there 🙂 Nice post.

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  2. Thank you for reading and commenting! Challenging the status can be risky business. It helps to have a community that supports and encourages risk and failures.

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  3. Totally agree on your thoughts on daydreaming. That’s where some of the most amazing ideas come from. However, I wonder if by letting the students daydream in class we are setting them up for failure later in life. I am a shocker for daydreaming, particularly in staff meetings. I often catch myself out and then chant the word ‘concentrate’ in my head to stay on task. I think I’d have trouble convincing other senior staff in the meetings that my daydreaming is more important than their conversation!

    However, just because it is easier to limit the imagination of a daydreamer than change the popular view that it is wasting valuable time, it doesn’t make it the best solution. Maybe we need to find a way to revolutionize the way a school day is structured so that a student can learn fractions when they are ready and daydreram when the urge takes them there?

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