A Resourceful Costume

Halloween is just around the corner...do your little ones have costumes?

Growing up, my mom and dad always took the resourceful route with costumes; they taught us to use what we already had, and we made it work.

I am not sure why we look so scared; well, it was Halloween. I was wearing a handmade princess dress from a Christmas tablecloth (or something) and my mom's jewelry. My brother was wearing my dad's t-shirt, a belt around it (to make a tunic), and flip flops with shoe laces wrapped up around him (he was a young King David). 

Thinking back, creating costumes taught me as a child to see materials through various lenses.

Shouldn't we be teaching our students to do the same? Why?

Basically when you value an object/concept/idea from various perspectives, you draw from your schema (what you already know) and connect it to a new experience. This supports the learning of listening. Listening is the key component in learning.

Listening is not hearing, listening is understanding.

It's the difference between knowing how to use an algorithm and understanding how the algorithm works.

Give your children the time to make choices to solve a problem with a limited set of resources. You'll be surprised with what they come up with.

†kEh

Does Risk = Reward?

"No risk, no reward"...

I think of Usher saying this to his team on "The Voice". (Yes, I love this show!) It may seem cliché, but it really should be the center of how we craft our lesson plans, or how we craft our craft as teachers. Teaching is a craft, not simply a schedule to be followed, it's a craft, an art, a constant evolution of trial, error, and listening. 

Think of the child who is never allowed to climb a tree, eat sand, or simply fall down. What about the child who never asks a question, makes a prediction, designs her own approach to solve 12x345, or shares an emotional connection to a great piece of literature?

What happens when they become adults and have never taken a risk, and have always been told the "how" and the "why"? 

Risk taking is essential; without an option to take risks there is little opportunity to learn. Critical thinking is starved, problem solving is void, communication is impossible. 

Let them try, let them ask, let them fall.

†kEh