As a finale to my M.Ed. program for Saint Mary's University, I took part in the education conference and presented a session based on my action research project, which began nearly a year ago. Needless to say that I experienced a lot of anxiety the day drew nearer. I hoped that I would present a seminar that was worthy of the work that I had put into its preparation. I grew more and more nervous as the day wore on and I waited for my turn. When it was finally over, I felt simply exhilarated! I was so thrilled not only to be finished, but especially to know that I had done a good job. For nearly a year, I spent all "free" time researching and writing and learning about my topic in preparation for this presentation and now it was over.
I began to wonder if my students have ever felt the joy of accomplishing something like that. Certainly if they had, they would have a true love for learning. Now I realize that high school students can't be expected to spend a year preparing for one big event. However, they ought to be able to know the feeling of working hard toward a goal and the thrill of achieving it. How do we get teenagers to care enough about thier progress in school that they work hard and appreciate all that they might accomplish? I am certain that if they did take ownership of thier work and had clear goals to work toward that they would get hooked on learning.
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