Stack o’ Stuff

   Over the years I’ve had many students come to me stumped for ideas when asked to write an essay or give a speech on a topic of their own choosing. I know in my heart that every person in this world is interested in life but it’s amazing how many students, when I ask them what they’re interested in, will say, “Nothing.” I don’t think that’s a response to the assignment; maybe it’s a response to years of being told to ignore what’s inside them and do as they’re told. Here’s a strategy I use to see if I can re-connect their circuit:

   I walk them over to the periodical area, take a stack of magazines off the shelf and start dealing them off the top like cards. I don’t open the magazines. As I toss cover stories onto the table I watch the face and listen to the silences. I’m very careful to make it safe to give something a pass.

   When I get a response I start to probe a little, maybe about how the topic would lend itself to the assignment, or I ask what else they’ve heard about it. A student may watch 20, 30, 50 magazines fall on the table, but sooner or later there will be a little glimmer, just the first tiny spark of the idea that “assignment” and “interesting” don’t have to be mutually exclusive.