I am seeing commitment and perseverance in the classroom that I have rarely seen before. These students, unaccustomed to completing homework or having adults expect them to do so, are keeping up with the reading and taking copious notes. They're asking questions and pursuing answers, at times when they may otherwise have stayed silent. They are spending hours researching information that is related to the text and connects it to their interests. They are taking feedback and making changes to pieces of writing that they have labored over - both hard pills to swallow for students that have histories of just wanting to be done.
These changes extend to the non-academic as well. We just had a fundraiser this past Thursday night - selling raffle tickets at the Harlem Wizards game at Portsmouth High School - and I can't speak highly enough of how well the students stepped up. While other members of our school had a dinner out before the game, my students didn't complain when they had to miss out and come to set-up early. They stretched their comfort zones as they sold tickets at our table and even ventured out into the crowd to sell more. When I saw two, otherwise self-conscious, students stand at half-court with Senator Martha Fuller Clark to draw the winning tickets, I knew that this was only the beginning of a powerful change for them all.
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