Wow what a fascinating experience this was to develop my own Mission Statement, Code of Ethics, Motto and Icon.  And what a great classroom activity.

Since I was asking my students to do this, I knew I had to do it myself as well.  I learned a great deal about myself during this process.  It helped me review my feelings, fears and aspirations.  I examined my beliefs about who I am in the world and who I still want to become.  My goals and aspirations had to be sifted down to core issues and prioritized.  It forced me to find ways of communicating my thoughts in a coherent and interesting manner.  It truly forced me to take that soul deep look at myself that so few of us ever take the time to do.  Whether I wanted to or not, I found myself in deep thought and conversations with myself.  That is an amazing experience.

My own experience with this activity reinforced my belief that it is a valuable experience for high school students, especially seniors.  As they are preparing for a life in the grownup world they rarely take time to sort priorities and reflect upon their own desires and expectations.  Being forced, because of a grade requirement, to ponder, reflect and plan often has important side effects.

I find that the students rarely walk into this activity with an open mind and an eager heart.  It is not likely that students will want to look at heroes and famous people in terms of motivation and personal ethics.  They aren't interested.  The first impression from a high school student is that this is a huge task, it is silly and an unnecessary waste of time.  They do it because they have to if they care about graduation credits.  But they aren't eager and anxious for the experience.  

Somehow as they are required to write that mission statement and create their own code of ethics their attitudes begin to shift.  Somehow they actually "get it."  They take ownership and pride in what they are creating.  They decide what they can make public through this medium and what is very private.  Students will take hours and hours crafting a poster with just the right images and arranging their thoughts in a pleasing manner.  Then when they have to put it all together in a digital presentation and stand proudly before their peers to explain their choices they come alive.  It all becomes very real and very important to them.  I watch them as I place printouts of their posters on the walls for everyone to see.  Their timidity about self-exposure is soon replaced by pride and conviction.  I see them sneaking looks at their work and watching the faces of other students as their work is viewed by peers.  They literally own the work and evidence great pride in their accomplishments.  It is a very rewarding process to take part in.

One student particularly exemplifies the essence of this activity.  He was a rebellious student who really thought this was a "crock" and did everything he could to avoid it.  He was very vocal about his opinion of this busywork assignment and made it perfectly clear that he didn't like it at all.  He clearly had better things to do with his time.  He was respectful of me as his teacher and mentor, but bordered on total disrespect of the requirement to complete these tasks.  Can you tell he wasn't happy that I asked him to do this?  Well, he finally completed the tasks, still complaining all the while.  When he was done he privately admitted that he liked what he had discovered and how he had put it together.  But he still thought it was far too touchy-feely and wondered about its efficacy.  Fortunately we had a good working relationship and we were able to discuss it in depth throughout the process.  Finally the tasks were done and we all moved on to other things to complete the year so they could graduate.  Then about a month into the summer break I received a phone call at home.  It was this student saying "Mrs. Denyer I have to tell you something."  Well with him it could have been anything, so I asked for more information and invited him to tell his story.  Apparently he had gone for an intake interview with Heald College.  Part of the application process was to create a Personal Mission Statement, and would he please bring it in sometime within the following week.  Well since he had taken his portfolio (another bone of contention throughout the process) to the interview he says he simply took his poster out of the folder and handed it to the interviewer right then and there.  The interviewer was astonished that a recent high school student would have such a thoughtful and carefully crafted document.  It reflected higher order thinking, self awareness and solid technology skills.  He was admitted into the program on the spot with no further evaluation.  He was congratulated on his resume package, including this product.  It amazed him how relevant this busywork became.  It further amazed him as he investigated places like Intel and Hewlett Packard that they had recently adopted a personnel policy requiring their current and prospective employees to also create a similar document.  When he called me he expressed his amazement at the relevance and power involved in this "monumental waste of time" which he had fought so hard.  His words were "thank you so much for forcing me to do this.  I didn't believe you when you tried to tell me how real it would be later on.  But you gave me the change to create a very powerful document that made a real difference in my career preparation.  I know now that I will use it and even revise it throughout my life. And if you want me to come back to talk to your future students about how important this is, I'll do it.  You really are 'making it real' for them and they need to understand that."  And since that original conversation, since we have stayed in touch, he has continued to tell me and any other student who will listen about what it meant to him.  That is the type of reward that makes teaching relevant and powerful.  I know this works.