One Student's Struggle with the Dream Exhibition

"I'm done."

That's the refrain I heard almost daily as other students went to work in preparation for the dream exhibition but one "Sam" drug his feet.

"Well, why don't you pull out your project and let's see what we can add," I'd say.

"But I'm done," he'd respond as he'd slouch over to the counter to pick up his poster about the top Major League Baseball teams.

He'd started off the project staring blankly at the brainstorm sheet until I came to help nudge him along in the direction of his baseball dreams. Then, he'd spent two days finding pictures and printing them... very slowly.

"Ok - here's your poster. What else could you add?"

"I've added everything you said. I'm done."

"I just suggested those things to get you started. The point of this project isn't to do the bare minimum and check off boxes; the point is to see what you can imagine and how much you can make happen in relation to your dream."

"But I don't know what to do!"

"Well, I got you started, so now it's up to you. You have to figure out something you can do to make it better - make it more awesome."

"Ok."

I'd had my doubts as to whether he'd actually do something, but it turned out that by the end of the period, he actually had done something, small though it was: He'd used colored markers to write the team name and city above the team logos he'd printed since, he said, not everyone might know that information just from looking at the logo.

It was a small addition, but I was excited and proud of him that he'd actually thought of and done something on his own!

On the bummer side, his general lack of interest and initiative, even in a project that he chose to be centered around something he loved, makes me wonder what in the world we're doing to kids in school to influence the loss of drive and passion that I see in spades in my pre-K son.

How can we better help kids maintain the exuberance they have before they enter school as they go through each grade?