Every so often what we teach at school creates a light bulb in the tiny whimsical body of the child we are teaching. And the beauty and the whimsy in this light bulb moment is one never knows just exactly when the light bulb will turn on. Somtimes, the engines of the mind are loud and crank up to full speed with a celebration and a resounding sputter. Other times, the light is whispered through the ear of another and sometimes the light bulb is so dim and celebtration so silent that if you blink or even cough, you could miss it. 

Realizations are probably one of the most powerful moments in the classroom. Because often times the application of the problem or the life skill you are trying to teach is taught even that much better by the light bulb moment of a kindred spirit. Recently, we have been conducting a pretty intense study of individuals who have changed their community around them throughout the world. We have conducted the Salt March of Gandhi and discussed the Recycled Orchestra in Paraguay and of course Malala and Sonia Sotomayor and recently Cesar Chavez. The day before we had just discussed the story of Cesar Chavez and the students were amazed at how similar the peaceful methods of both leaders were. 

At around 7:50 when the bell rang at school, I heard some faint chanting coming from the lockers. I did not think much of it until the chanting became a bit louder as not one but eight of my students marched into my classroom chanting "Save the Chickens." "Save the Chickens." Naturally, as to not disrupt the chanting, I did make a signal to "lower the voices" just a bit. Two of my students went to the chalkboards to write "Save the Chickens" and smiling now, I had a little bit of an inkling that this was a loud light bulb moment. 

"So..why the chanting?" I asked. (still smiling)

Leader: "We need to save the chickens."

"I see...what is wrong with the chickens?" 

Leader: "We are treating them horribly and we need to strike."

Leader 2: "Chicken Nuggets every day in the cafeteria needs to stop."

Leader 3: "Yeah!"

Leader 4: "Yeah!"

Leader 5: "We shall never eat chicken nuggets again!"

Why do you think that striking will make a change?

Leader 1: "It worked for Gandhi and Cesar Chavez."

 Leader 2: "It's going to work for us, too."

 As I said before, sometimes those light bulb moments are faint and other times they are loud celebrations. Regardless, it was clear that they were taking something they were passionate about and applying it to what they had learned. How often do we take the same risks by actually applying what we read and what we learn and making a subtle change. And then think about how often you miss your own light bulb moments due to lack of focus, or claiming you are too busy or even becoming frightened of the thought of "ruffling feathers."

Use your voice. Save the Chickens.