Baseball Cards and Deeper Learning
How the Baseball Card Collectors Club Introduced Me to the Deeper Learning Competencies
Effective communication- The room we met in after school once a week was often filled with lively debates about who the best players of the day were and the advisor was very much a part of the discussion. One game we invented to rank players was called "Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame".
Critical thinking/Problem solving- Any card collector knows that trades are a great way to enhance your collection, the conundrum was always whether to consider a trade based on value or simply because you liked a certain team or player. A great deal of thought was put in before parting with any card.
Collaboration- As a group we made decisions about what to do at our meetings and came up with ways ways to make our hobby even more enjoyable. I remember working together as a group with our advisor to draft a letter to administration requesting a television so that we could watch a game in school on opening day.
Learning ho to learn- I did not enjoy reading at all as a youngster but I begged my parents to subscribe to the Providence Journal, not for the articles but because I absolutely HAD to have access to the box scores. I would read them, cut them out, sort, and memorize them like flash cards, a skill that would benefit me years later.
Academic mindset- My perception of the the other students in the club was that they were academically superior to me and I felt intimidated by them. Nevertheless, when it came to baseball knowledge I had a certain confidence. That confidence eventually transferred into other areas of my life in and out of school.