Out of our comfort zone.

Today, I took my class of sixth graders to the school library.  Many of them only consider books that are like the ones which they are already familiar.  A boy wanted to trade in his book today because it was written in verse and he thought it looked weird.  I talked him into giving it a shot, and I think he'll really like it.  It made me think of a class that I am taking on British Lit.  I have always been a fan of American lit, and some of what we are reading is pretty different from what I am used to.  It's a challenge, but my classroom motto is "the learning is in the struggle."
We must step out of our comfort zones in order to expand our minds.