Which bits are the important ones?

Today, I was thinking more about why we are so afraid of making mistakes or being seen doing the wrong thing? Society today puts far too much importance on being right, on not making mistakes. A mistake can cost you a job. A mistake can lead to disgrace or humility. A mistake can imply you are stupid!

But in reality how does one be an innovator or learn by ones self without making mistakes? Far too often I have children come up to me in class and ask me to do something for them. Can you draw me a picture of a cat? Can you build me a tower out of blocks? This scares the shit out of me! Why? Because our teaching is killing their creativity! They have already learnt that mistakes are bad and that things that look different are bad within our society. They want their picture of a cat to look like what society tells them it should look like. They’ve already decided what they aren’t. They’ve already decided what they can’t do. Or is it us as teachers and us as a society who has decided that for them?

This is exactly the opposite of what we as teachers should be striving for. I want my kids (the ones in my class) to have the whole world open in front of them. For them to have the confidence to do want ever they want to. To be true to their dreams and believe that they can accomplish anything.

Happily it seems I’m not the only one that believes this. Below is an amazing talk I stumbled across while surfing today that covers exactly how I have been feeling. It’s about 18 minutes long and well worth a watch for all parents, educators and students.

You Tube ABC's

Aa is for Akon and American Idol
Bb is for Beyonce and Britney Spears
Cc is for Chris Brown and Crack a Bottle
Dd is for Dead and Gone and Day and Night
Ee is for Eminem and Enrique Iglesias
Ff is for Fred and Funny
Gg is for Green Day and Ghost
Hh is for Halo and Hannah Montana
Ii is for I’m on a Boat and I Love College
Jj is for Just Dance and Justin Timberlake
Kk is for Kiss Me Thru the Phone and Kelly Clarkson
Ll is for Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne
Mm is for Michael Jackson and Miley Cyrus
Nn is for Nickelback and Naruto
Oo is for Obama and On a Boat
Pp is for Poker Face and Pink
Qq is for Queen and Quest Crew
Rr is for Right Round and Rihanna
Ss is for Soulja Boy and Single Ladies
Tt is for Taylor Swift and Twilight
Uu is for Usher and U2
Vv is for Vanessa Hugens and Viva La Vida
Ww is for Womanizer and Watchmen
Xx is for X Factor and Xzibit
Yy is for Young Jeezy and YouTube
Zz is for Zac Efron and Zombie

So there you have it, 26 letters and 52 videos. I’m extremely surprised on how many of the videos are music related; either a song or about an musician… if you can call Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus a musician. Anywho, hope you liked it. Please share with your friends on Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Twitter etc.

NB. This list was made on the 5th of May 2009