Leading with Heart

I believe its hard for people to see what isn't right in front of them even when it is so clear that someone is in trouble we tend to ignore it and continue with our lives. How many times have you been driving down the road and stopped at a red light where someone holding a cardboard sign was asking for help, be it money, a job, or something else? Many of us have come across this scene all too often and usually just wait for the green light, or maybe sometimes offer up the few dollars in our wallet, but that is usually as far as it goes.

Now, this is not to say that these situations dont require our help or that we dont have the heart to help, but that we don't see how we can be the help that these people need. However, when we see the ASPCA commercials or the videos discussing starving children in other countries we want to do anything we can to help. The difference here is that these commercials and videos pull on our heart strings and force us to view the problem from an emotional perspective not jsut a factual one. We don't need all the facts to want to help, actually knowing all the facts with no emotional context really just makes us indifferent just like the person on the side of the road, but with the emotional piece pulling on our hearts its easier to want to help even without the facts.

In my proposal to engage my students creativity and motivation through the use of e-portfolios I plant to use the draw of peoples hearts to help bring them to my side and help me in my plans. I will use emotional music and video to show how my students are currently lacking motivation and creativity and how e-portfolios will allow them to take charge of their learning and promote their own voice in their education.