Give Them a Purpose

My youngest child has developed a love for horses.  This love has grown exponentially over the last few years and honestly, as a busy mom, I have provided the minimum amount of support for this hobby.  Despite this, I am becoming a barn mom.  Because she is young and inexperienced, I have stayed at the barn during many lessons over the years and by default, I am also learning about the horse world.

One of the things I have noticed over the years is that horses don’t always know what you want them to do, but they will follow directions if you give them.  These animals are large (some over 1,000 pounds) so knowing what you want them to do and asking them correctly is important.

A few weeks ago, I was watching a lesson that included 4 horses.  Several of the riders were on horses that were new to them and everyone had just entered the arena to warm up.  One horse was not happy…it could have been the wind, or the birds, or the new bit, but regardless, the rider had to adjust.  One of the tips the trainer gave her was, “Give him a purpose.  He needs a job to do.”  The rider adjusted with a clear command and the horse settled into a trot around the outside of the arena.

That power and wisdom of that phrase kept resonating with me.

“Give him a purpose.”

When we have a clear purpose, it creates belonging.

We know what we are trying to do.

We can invite out the distractions and stay focused on the task at hand.

A clear purpose helps scaffold us toward achievement.

This idea of purpose aligns with the motivation work of Daniel Pink. He suggests that in order to truly be motivated, we must have the opportunity for mastery, autonomy, and purpose.

Many times in our classrooms and schools, we are frustrated by students who are off track.  They often need explicit commands to get back on track.  They are missing a clear purpose.  This could be related to behavior or academics but without some sort of job to do, getting back on track will be difficult.

The vision you have for your students is in your head.  Your vision might be clear to you, but is it clear to your students?  If you reflect on areas of need, these would be the places you most likely need to set a clear purpose.   You have to communicate your ideas and expectations out loud to the students in the room.  And you have to repeat it…many times.

Teachers often share frustrations with me about students who are not doing what they want them to do.  I regularly ask them to reflect on how they taught them what they wanted.  Many times, we skip that part.  The explicit teaching of exactly what we want is often the missing link.  We think students should already know how to act or use commas or understand probability.

The reality is the teacher they had in front of you (or their experience at home) may not align with your vision.  In their time with you, they need to know YOUR vision.  If you teach students who change classes and have multiple teachers, you can imagine the mixed messages they are being sent across the day.  You can save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you explicitly communicate your vision, set a clear purpose, and have specific jobs for your students.  The great news is that students will actually rise to your expectations when they are with you.  They innately know when they need to shift gears much like the horse knows which riders are better than others.

In the coming week, reflect on the purposes you set for students.

Are they clear and achievable?

If not, you have a job to do.

~ A