In the eyes of children, the future has unlimited possibilities.
When you face a group of 7 or 8 year olds, if you say to them: "Among you, some people can launch rockets in the future, some will become NASA astronauts, some will become China's Musk... ."
Guess how they will react? In their eyes, anything in this world is possible. Most adults might think that it is a bowl of chicken soup.
If you ask them again: "What does it take to launch a rocket?" Can you imagine it? The answer from this group of 7 and 8 year olds is- dreams, courage, friends, knowledge...
This should start from a recent class. About a year ago, I received an invitation from my son’s school to give a story-sharing lesson in my child’s class. When
received this task, I was very happy, because every dad should become a role model or hero in the eyes of the child. This is also an opportunity to get in touch with the child.
More importantly, it reminds me of a movie that has a great influence on me, and it happens to share this story with children.
is similar to "The Redemption of Shawshank". It is also a film adapted from a real story. In the past ten years, has given me a lot of inspiration. Whenever I am sleepy, whenever I am worried about the future of my child I will watch this movie at all times.
So when I was invited this time, I did not hesitate to choose this movie to share.
"Launch a rocket, you can too"
This movie describes the growth story of NASA engineer Homer (Hou Mo). When he was a child, he lived in a rural area in the United States, where mining coal was the center of life for all local people. When the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Homer was immediately attracted.
"I want to launch a rocket too!" At that moment, Homer established his life dream. He started to learn everything about the Rockets frantically, trying to break through his boundaries and realize his dreams. Therefore, the theme of the story lesson I told the children is called "Launch a rocket, so can you". Before telling the story, I asked the children a question: "If I say now that some of you can launch a rocket, who do you think can accomplish this task?" As soon as the voice of
fell, at least 8 children raised their hands. I rushed to answer: "I can, I really like science, I want to be Musk!" This surprised me. The group of children who are only 7 or 8 years old, their idols are already like Musk and Zuckerberg. People.
I then asked them: "What do you think is the most necessary material for rocket launch?" The children hurriedly enumerated some of the materials needed-"The material is explosive, the material is metal, the material is... ..." After listening to the children's answers, I did not immediately tell them what my answer was. Instead, I showed them the first clip of the movie I mentioned.
When Homer saw an artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union, he was immediately attracted. After returning home, he excitedly said to his parents: "I want to build a rocket, like the Mate."
Unfortunately, no matter it is Classmates or parents, no one believes that he can do it, everyone thinks he is whimsical. When he arrived at school, many people laughed at him-"Have you seen a rocket? Do you know what kind of rocket can be launched?"
But he didn't care about these ridicules, he still insisted on his dream and kept telling himself:" I want to launch a rocket, I want to launch a rocket, I want to launch a rocket." This is the first point I want to share with the children today. For to launch a rocket, the first material we need is a dream and determination.
Five steps to "launch a rocket"
But dreams and determination alone are not enough. I then guided the children to think: What should you do when you have dreams and determination?
Let's go back to Homer's childhood and see how he did it. At this time, the first thing he did was to go to the library to check materials and learn all about rocket-related knowledge.
But in the small town, people are more concernedThere is a coal mine in the heart, not something in the sky, so there are not many related books. However, in the library, he accidentally discovered Quentin, his future companion. Quentin is a space fan. He is so obsessed that he doesn't fit in with the people around him, and everyone doesn't want to care about him.
One day when we were eating in the dining hall, everyone was sitting together in twos and threes, only Quentin was alone. Homer saw it, and couldn't help but ran to him and asked him, "Do you have any research on the Rockets?" When
heard this question, Quentin immediately took care of it and shared everything he knew with Homer. They discussed the development history of rockets, discussed how fuel should be done... The same dreams and pursuits of made them their best friends.
It was too slow to fumble on his own, so he tried to find a way to ask the teacher. There was no professional teacher in that village, so he found his father's master in the mine, told him the principle of blasting, and helped him weld rockets. After
had preliminary theoretical knowledge and companions, he couldn't wait to start experiments. They started to make models of the rocket, and then let the rocket fly. Unfortunately, failed almost every time.
Homer and his friends will not give up on this, they continue to analyze the reasons for the failure and find ways to improve. In order to find more heat-resistant steel, they also pried discarded rails as materials. These clips of
are quite shocking to the children. The small team of Homer can be more and more courageous.
This is actually the methodology of 's innovative education, and is also a method I want to tell the children- what should you do when you have a dream. So, what exactly is innovative education methodology? It's very simple. In fact, it is divided into five steps:
The first step: dream; the second step: research and information; the third step: be an apprentice; the fourth step: companion; the fifth step: experiment.
Regarding dreams, I will not repeat them. Let's talk about "research" first, which is a very important prerequisite for doing anything.
is now an era where information is very developed. Many children at use technology and the Internet to search for information, and their ability to acquire knowledge is far beyond our imagination. Many 7- and 8-year-olds at have very profound knowledge. In class, they often learn how to solve problems in the form of research reports or project systems. The third step of
is "apprenticeship learning", which is a very popular learning and practice method in Europe and America. Last year, a White House spokesperson stated that the U.S. government will revise university accreditation and student loan policies to encourage more use of "apprenticeship learning" in higher education.
Simply put, is to find professional tutors to consult and learn from them in their fields of interest to accumulate social experience. finds problems in practice through personal experience, and flexibly uses knowledge of various disciplines to solve problems. Let us experience the classic practical cases in the "Apprentice" program: selling perfume for ShaniaTwain, managing a tricycle company, doing 2007 Chevytahoe car sales for GM, selling wedding dresses for BridalShop, designing and selling T-shirts for Hanes... .... Under the "apprenticeship study", what the students do may not be so "high-end", but it is also the specific business of the company.
Children can experience working life early, and determines the work to be done in the future very early and makes continuous efforts to this end. "Apprentices" like are more competitive than students who graduate directly from universities and come to the company.
The fourth step is the companion. A single tree cannot become a forest. All dreams must have a partner in order to go further. This companion may be a strange flower in the eyes of others, or an unreasonable person, but as long as he has the same hobbies as you, he is worthy to associate. The fifth step is to experiment. is more important to do than to say, has a dream and needs to keep trying, even if it is repeatedly defeated. Only by constantly experimenting can you find the problem and then prescribe the right medicine.
At this time, I wrote these five key words on the blackboard and asked the children: "What is each of you’s dreams?" As soon as
's voice fell, the children started talkingSpeaking of my dream.
Someone said: "I want to be an artist." Someone said: "I want to be the best doctor in the world to overcome human problems." Someone said: "I want to be an entrepreneur and make a lot of money.". ..... Then, I took the artist as an example and asked the first child: "What have you done?" He said that his mother asked him to paint every week, but he was not only in the room when he painted. Paint inside, and look outside. For example, in order to teach him how to draw the moon, the teacher sometimes takes him out to see the moon at night.
After listening to the children's sharing, I am very moved. Many children now have their own dreams. Their dreams are not the same as when we were young. They must be scientists and policemen. These "dreams" imposed on us by society and parents. As long as the adults squat down, listen to the children's ideas, and look at the world from their perspective, you will find that the children really have their own ideas, plans, and even the desire and determination to change the world. The conditions of are much better than before. Many parents are no longer limited to teaching their children survival skills. The prerequisite for becoming an artist may be to travel around the world, to see the works of masters, to read, to think, and to discuss various things. This is the source of creativity for children.
dared to refute: "It's not my fault!"
Then, I continued to ask the kid who wanted to be an artist: "How did your mother discuss the moon with you? Do you remember what your mother told you about What about the moon?"
he gave a very interesting example, "Once, I heard my parents say, "Don’t always think that the moon in foreign countries is rounder than the Chinese moon." I took my mother to discuss and prove it to her. Sometimes the moon in foreign countries is rounder than China.”
This is actually what we often say, is very important for critical thinking. What is more interesting for is that Homer in the movie also used this kind of thinking to solve the crisis they encountered.
One day, after they successfully launched the rocket, the forest in the small town caught fire, and the police believed it was caused by their rocket launch test. Therefore, the police came to the school to punish them.
At first, they felt that they had made a big disaster, made a big mistake, and fell into doubt about themselves. Under guilt, they even burned down the hut where they were doing the experiment.
Fortunately, they met a good teacher. With the encouragement of the teacher, they did a lot of tests. Through mathematical formulas, principles, and materials, recovered the lost rocket and proved himself innocent. Forest fire Not caused by them.
Let’s think about it. When you encounter a bad thing, everyone around you thinks it’s your fault and criticizes you. At this time, we ask ourselves, is this really caused by you? not necessarily. At this time, you should think more about it, analyze the ins and outs of the matter, and then seek confirmation. Following this topic, I discussed with the children: "Did you ever be wronged by others when you were growing up?" The
class immediately exploded, and a child said, "I lost a hundred yuan at home, mother I always suspected that I stole it, and gave me a special lesson, saying that the act of stealing money was wrong. But (the money) was really not my steal." Everyone is wronged sometimes, so the whole The classroom atmosphere is very active. Then I asked them, "If you encounter this kind of thing next time, what would you do?" The children said, I will analyze with the teacher and mom and dad to find the reason, not just say "it's not me" , This cannot solve the problem.
Love and responsibility
Misfortunes never come singly. When Homer was wronged by them, his father had an accident in the mine. Although he was rescued, he still needs to recuperate. The financial pressure on
's family suddenly increased, and Homer or his brother needed to work and earn money. But his brother is going to university, if he suspends, he won't get a scholarship. At this time, the atmosphere at home was very depressing, also fell into great pain and thinking, what should be done next.
I threw this question to the children: "If something like this happened to you, what would you do?"
Almost all the children said, I will not engage in rocket launches for the time being. I must study hard, I willHelp mom to share more things. This makes me very touched. Pursuing dreams is something we encourage, but when facing reality, love and responsibility for family members are more important things.
Therefore, we need to plant this seed-love and responsibility in children's minds since childhood. Homer did exactly the same as everyone said, throwing away all the materials used to make rockets, and went to the mine to work to help her mother reduce the burden.
At this point, Homer is very similar to his father. His father is actually a very resolute person. He treats others well at work. He has a sense of responsibility and always stands up first when he encounters things. On the night of the accident, his father could not go to the mine.
The importance of a good teacher
But life is so dramatic. His father recovered slowly, and his teacher was unwilling to give up. He ran to Homer's house to encourage him and let him think clearly whether he wanted to launch a rocket in his heart.
This is very important. Today we can bow to life, , but no one told us that you can’t continue your dream when you are assuming your due family responsibilities. No one tells you that you can only choose between the two. One. Therefore, we must stick to our dreams anyway. Therefore, Homer goes to work in miners during the day, and watches some videos or books at night, discusses with his friends, and continues to learn related knowledge.
During our growth, our parents must have the greatest influence on us, but whether we can meet a good teacher is also very important. In fact, at this point of the teacher, Homer and I have similar experiences. I grew up in a village and left the county seat when I was 17. When I was in college, I met the same teacher. He told me: "Whatever you want to have, go after what." Once, he asked me to eat at his house. The first thing I thought about was that I could save a meal. Meal money. But I didn't expect that that day not only saved a meal, but also had a significant impact on my later life.
He asked me: "What is your dream?" I just came out of the countryside, I don't know what my dream is, I can't answer it. The teacher said: "You are now 17 or 18 years old, you have to be responsible for yourself, you can think about what you want to do the most?"
I said, the thing I want to do most is to be able to go all over In the world, chat with the most intelligent people in the world. The teacher encouraged me, "Go and analyze what kind of profession can realize your dreams." At the time of
, "Interview with Yang Lan" just started, I found that as a reporter, I can chat with these big guys, and I can also Traveled all over the world. It is because I met such a teacher, I really became a reporter afterwards, as a reporter for one of the best media in China.
My idol is actually my father
behind the movie. There is a very dramatic event. Homer took part in the national science and technology competition as a representative. The night before the competition, he put the results on the exhibition, that little rocket was stolen. Now, he has nothing to show.
But at this moment, he didn't want to give up. Homer called the friends. In the end, was still his father to help solve the problem. His father asked the mine engineer to help him make a new model overnight and sent it to him. Homer also won the first prize as he wished.
Homer and his friends have received scholarships and are about to leave the village to go to university. At the time of the last launch, Homer had been waiting for his father to show up, and his father hadn't seen any of his launches.
Finally, my father really appeared at the rocket launch site and lit the rocket with Homer.
From these details, we can see that Homer's father loves him deeply. On the one hand, I hope Homer will be down-to-earth and do a good job as a miner. On the other hand, he will help his children to try.
Actually, Homer’s idol is his father—"I believe I will achieve something, not because I am different from you, but because I am the same as you, I am as stubborn and tough as you, I only Pray that I will be a good person like you." After the story of , I asked the children: "The story of Homer, which one do you think is the best?Baton? "Everyone at
said a lot about his father, teacher, partner, etc. In fact, as long as everyone works hard in pursuing their dreams, there will be many people helping you, and you will never be alone.
I asked, "Everyone can launch their own rocket, do you agree? "All the children agreed in unison. At this time, regarding the raw materials needed to launch the rocket, the answer became- needs courage, dreams, hard work, partners, good teachers...
At this time, the class bell is just right. It’s ringing, I don’t know if today’s class can be called a class, and I don’t know how much impact my sharing like this has on children today. I just thought that when I was in college, I lost my goals and dreams. At the time, the movie let me always know what my life’s coordinates are and where my dream rocket will fly. has been until now, until five years ago, because of the birth of my second child, I did The cause of innovative education. My current philosophy is to make the world a child’s classroom and let children learn knowledge through exploration. This is in the same line as our past philosophy.
Whenever I don’t know how to educate my own children , Whenever I encounter difficulties in my own career, whenever a parent asks me how to raise a child, I will either myself or recommend the parents to watch this movie, because it definitely affects us more than just It's as simple as launching a rocket. The movie is "October Sky" released in 1999, exactly 20 years ago.
