Thinking Outside the Box

Recently I flew on a Qantas plane, and was served Spaghetti Bolognaise. Spaghetti Bolognaise? Who serves Spaghetti on a plane? I wondered. It's slippery, it's messy and it leads to noisy slurping!

After a bit of a chuckle, I decided to give it a go anyway. Not because I was particularly hungry, but it did actually look good. And, to my surprise, it wasn't too slippery, messy or noisy at all. In fact, it was fun!

This experience got me to thinking. Some brave person out there decided they'd like to see Spaghetti on the menu for Qantas planes. I'm pretty sure their suggestion would have been met with serious opposition - it doesn't seem like a particularly 'sensible' idea. I'd love to know the discussion that led to it being accepted. My hat is off to that person who thought outside the box, and stepped out to give it a shot. Like I said earlier, it was a great addition to the menu.

So, how does this relate to teaching? I'd like to encourage you to explore a 'less than sensible' idea with your students. Try something new, maybe something that other people have been too scared to attempt. Step outside your comfort zone.