I saw this anonymous quote and it struck a chord with me. There has been a great deal of interest recently from staff coming up with new course offerings for next year. I find these conversations very interesting and exciting as ideas are bounced around regarding the content and logistics about how the new classes can happen. What this means is that we need to find areas of interest that appeal to both the teacher and the students, for when that happens you get fantastic buy in and interest.
This made me wonder, what things appeal to us, regardless of age? The following observations are not scientifically reliable as they are based on thinking about my parents, myself and my kids and where our interests overlap.
1. Building something - not all the time, but there is a certain satisfaction with building, creating, cooking, fixing, painting... making something tangible. Not all the time, but certainly for part of the time.
2. Movement - hiking, walking, running, exercising with a challenge or goal. The challenge can be faster or slower and getting started can seem like an effort, but once you get going it is rewarding.
3. Pop music - we can deny it, but a pop song is catchy and stays in your head. The tried and true I-IV-V chord progression with a nice melody appealed to us years ago and still does. (Note that this does not hold true for classical, jazz, hard rock, rap or other specific genres. We may have some specific artists or songs that we like but that becomes very personal and others often will not share your enthusiasm no matter how hard you force it upon them).
4. Accessing Information - the content of what we like is different, but the process of finding it is appealing regardless of age.
5. Health - there is a fascination with learning about what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and diet. Now whether we implement and actually live healthy is another question.
Do you agree with this list? What would you add or take away?
