Thoughts from the Field: Middle School Current News Intensive

Guest blogger:  Kayisha Edwards, Special Educator shares her Thoughts from the Field.Eyes affixed upon the throngs of books that align the shelves, I can't help but wonder if the dreamy eyed student is paying attention to the lesson at hand. Is the student processing?  Taking a much needed break from the discussion?  Or perhaps just thinking about life.In the Middle School Current News Intensive, (Intensive is a time of enrichment and support)  students were encouraged to spend time to ruminate about their dreams. After reading an article about Malala Yousafzai and two Langston Hughes poems, students were eager to connect who they aspire to be to the likes of a resilient young woman and a renowned poet. In their writing, some students made comments about who they are as dreamers:

"What type of dream am I doing? A lucid dream because I want to be aware and have control over where I go in life."

"Langston Hughes said something that made me think about my dream, and Malala made me think about how hard she worked to let girls know what she went through in order to rally for education. My dream is to be a beautician and never let that go."

Other students personally connected with Langston Hughes’s poems:

"What stood out to me is when Hughes says 'For if dreams die, Life is like a broken winged bird that cannot fly'. What I get from this is if you diminish your dreams then you will lose a big factor of your life. I say that because a big factor of a bird's life is flying and with a broken wing it can’t do that. So with a dream, if you defer it, then you will lose a big element of your life."

And others made a connection to Malala Yousafzai:

"Malala's story is an inspiration to people, including me. Having a dream is not worth anything unless it’s spread to the world. Some say that your dreams have limits, but there is always a way to overcome those limits."

"Though, it’s easy to have dreams, it’s more difficult to fulfill them. If you really want to become what you seek, you have to work very hard to achieve it. Many people, like Malala Yousafzai, worked extremely hard to do this, and I want to do this, too."

In these quotes I see the power of giving students time to think. Time for students to sit and stare wherever their eyes become affixed: on a picture, in a book, an article or a poem - and to think about those who have dreamed in the past and whose dreams are making headlines today in an effort to foster robust thoughts and conversations about dreams of their own.

Written by: Kayisha Edwards is a Special Educator at City Neighbors Charter School