Another Brick in the Wall

Out for a morning stroll, a man happened to pass by a large construction site. Three workers were toiling under the hot sun, laying brick together along a forty-foot-long wall.

"What are you doing?", the man inquired of the first worker.

"What does it look like, buddy? I'm laying brick. Real thrilling, huh?", replied the man with no small hint of sarcasm.

Curious, the man approached the next worker. "What are you doing?", he repeated.

"Well, I'm putting in a foundation, and then we'll move on to the first floor walls," the 2nd worker said, gesturing toward where the next level would be located.

Finally, the man approached the last worker and asked him, "What are you doing?"

The worker turned to the man with a smile beaming from his soiled and sweaty face. "I'm building a great cathedral that will honor God and reflect His glory for as long as it stands. When it's finished, I hope you'll attend our first worship service here."

Three workers attending to the same task. Three different perspectives on the task's purpose. Which worker do you think enjoyed his job? Which do you think showed up on time every day, eager to start the day's labor? Which do you think made his friends wonder if they, too, should pursue a job in construction?

Just to refresh your memory, I'm a math teacher. Specifically, I teach geometry. Some of you reading this may have thrown up in your mouth a little bit just from reading that word. I realize that many students out there would rather take "History of 19th Century Dental Procedures" than sit through a semester of math, and by now, I know better than to try to make math everyone's favorite subject.

Instead, my desire is that every student would realize what the little tasks amount to in the long run. Learning to simplify radicals and prove congruent triangles must seem like brick-laying to many students -- in fact, some of them would KILL for the chance to lay brick instead of labeling vertical angles. But I yearn for them to, like the 3rd builder, recognize the small tasks as necessary steps toward building something greater and grander, of which they'll enjoy the fruits for the rest of their lives. I wish, when they are balancing an equation, or conjugating verbs, or summarizing Brown v. Board of Education, that they could envision themselves modeling wind shear for an aircraft, writing an op-ed for the Times, or preparing an opening statement to defend their client.

An ancient proverb tells us, "When vision is lacking, the people perish." How true! I firmly believe that if every student could have a "Back to the Future" moment, and see the end results of so many small decisions, we would see many more self-motivated learners. This old French guy said it best:

"If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery