Dead Poet's Society- Carpe Diem
Carpe Diem Clip
For the last few years at this time, I would always start my poetry unit with the above clip from Dead Poet's Society. This year in my new role I am obviously not teaching poetry, but when I saw the newest Apple ad that used a clip from this movie, I fondly remembered the Carpe Diem scene and how much I loved showing it to kickoff the unit. I would always tell the students that Carpe Diem is a great motto and way to live your life. They would then blog about what was on their bucket lists and what they could do to seize the day. It was a great lesson and I loved reading their posts and responding to them.
Even though I am no longer teaching poetry to 8th graders, I thought what a great lesson for our teachers who are bravely forging their way this year into unknown territory as we adopted a 1:1 laptop initiative. I encounter so many teachers daily who want to try new things and new technologies in their classroom, but they are simply scared. They are scared that the kids know more than they do (and they do), that they will mess up (and they will), and that they will be pushed out of their comfort zone of what they've always known (and that's a certainty).
I want these educators to know that it's all right to fail because that's how we learn; and it's okay if the kids know more than they do because they will help teach you and the others; and it's okay to move out of their comfort zone and put the textbook down and try something new! We should all have a "Carpe Diem" mentality when it comes to teaching. Seize the day, try something new, something that pushes you out of your comfort zone and scares you to death. Be brave and don't worry what others will think of you. Put your ideas and thoughts out there and enjoy life because as Mr. Keating says in the movie, " We are food for worms people." Don't live with what if's; go out knowing you left everything on the table- Carpe Diem.
