Learning.

I’ve kept this Yoda on my desk for 10 years now as a reminder that rules aren’t everything and that sometimes people should receive points for trying something new, for breaking the rules, and for engaging in playful curiosity. In the past few years of my teaching career, I’ve inevitably found myself facing a jury of questioning teenagers who wonder why they’re doing something they’ve never had to do before. They aren’t used to play, and they want their worksheets. Year after year, I give what I call my “Yoda Speech.” I hold up my Yoda bust and tell the story of his creation. I tell my students that it’s a reminder to always question the way things are, to take risks, to learn for the sake of learning. I watch as their expressions change from frustration to understanding to respect because they’ve each encountered someone who didn’t understand when they tried to do something new. It is at this moment when I think they realize how much they have missed learning as play.

CONNECT

Thanks, Jess!