“Our first teacher is our own heart.”

Steve Fouts 0:03
Hey everybody, Steve and Dan Fouts here. We’re teaching different with a Cheyenne proverb about self motivation. Here’s the quote, “Our first teacher is our own heart.” I really like this quote because it uses words that are familiar to us and combines them in a way that’s very thought provoking. It speaks to this idea that inside of us, our emotional state, our heart, can be a teacher to us. We think of teachers as people who come into our lives to share knowledge. We listen to them, and believe they are the experts. We learn from teachers, but this idea that the things that you have to learn are actually already inside of you is really interesting. What claim do you see this quote making?

Dan Fouts: 1:08 – Claim

I think this Proverb is getting at the idea that our feelings should really be the primary guide for our behavior and motivations. Reading “our first teacher,” makes me think our first priority should be what we feel, not  necessarily what we think. Like you, I think this is a fascinating quote. Because, as you said, we usually think of teachers as people, but this proverb is saying that all of us have our own teacher inside of us. We just have to be more in tune to this teacher and listen.

To get this conversation moving, you can ask your students to talk about a time when they made a decision based on what they felt. A time when they turned off their thinking and went with their instincts or how they felt. How did that work out? Was it good or was it bad? That would be a rich conversation. What do you think, Steve?

Steve Fouts 2:21
I think it would, and I think it’s going to reveal the way students process things and show how they make decisions, maybe self-motivation. What is it that motivates students? Some are motivated by their gut, and they wait for that feeling inside them to tell them it’s ready to go; they’re ready to do something. Others are looking for guidance from people, and that’s what motivates them. They want to get recognition for something.

Dan Fouts 3:00
Some are almost paralyzed, because they think too much before they act, and they don’t go with their gut.

Steve Fouts 3:09
We’re moving right into the counterclaim here. Let’s do the counterclaim and then talk about what kind of storytelling prompts we could get from it? What is the best way to speak against this proverb?

Dan Fouts: 3:27 – Counterclaim

As you’re thinking about how to be motivated to do things in life, you should be motivated by what you think, reason should be your guide, not your heart.  In this way your heart can be seen as a companion to the self, but it shouldn’t be the guide. Feelings can get us into trouble and be unreliable. We can’t predict them. They’re not rational. Think of any  person who acts on their feelings. When you ask them why they did what they did, they tend to stumble for an explanation.

Steve Fouts 4:04
They can’t tell you exactly why, just that it felt like the right decision. Usually, if I can break it down here, emotional outbursts occur with students when they’re expressing anger, or maybe they’ve gotten into  trouble. It’s usually an emotional outburst. It was the way they were feeling at the time. They weren’t communicating. They weren’t thinking. They weren’t processing.

Dan Fouts 4:33
Yeah, sorry to jump in, but we’ve never punished a student for thinking too hard. That doesn’t disrupt the class.

Steve Fouts 4:42
Sure, but it’s a valid point. I think this counterclaim is valid. As far as getting the students to share some stories, I would love to hear how they used their mind, their experience, and a little bit of wisdom as motivation, instead of following their emotions.  Ideally this choice put them in a good spot. They were happy they did it. I would want to get some stories about that, and then get these things back and forth, because you can think too much. Analysis paralysis I think is the phrase.

Dan Fouts 5:32
Right. I was thinking of another theme here. Along with self motivation,  there’s the impulse control idea. Kids who are able to think before they  feel are able to have that impulse control that’s necessary to be productive, and to motivate themselves. They have to do it through thinking.

Steve Fouts: 6:56 – Essential Question

Yeah. And that actually makes me think of a few conversations we have in the library already. I know one from a stoic philosopher that argues the  exact opposite of this, that you really need to use your mind. It’s really siding with the counterclaim that you need to use your mind to control your emotional  reactions if you want to be happy and lead a fulfilled life. So I think there are some real valid points from each side of this.

Here’s how you could wrap up this conversation with an essential question. Should our feelings be the guide of our actions? This will get some reflective students after a really good conversation. I would just love to read the responses to this because it’s so situational. It’s hard to answer point blank when feelings are right or feelings are wrong, or when thinking is right or thinking is wrong. But it would be really interesting to see how the students process a question like this, and tie it to their experiences and how they want to live.

Dan Fouts 7:11
Within the curriculum that you’re teaching, whether you’re an English teacher, or social studies teacher, there are so many rich opportunities to get situations, characters, novels, or historical events where leaders or  people act on their feelings or act on their reason. There are fascinating connections you can make.

Steve Fouts 7:36
Yes, you could get some great responses to this. We hope you like the Cheyenne Proverb this week. Make sure you make it to teachdifferent.com to sign up for our Three Step Think Alouds. We’ll give you a conversation every week that you can use with your students. If you want more resources, then sign up for access to our Conversation Library where we have videos, guides and everything you really need to make having these conversations in the classroom a routine. Take care and we will see you soon.

Dan Fouts 8:15
All right. Take care everybody.