Hello All,
I recently had two students working on independent projects
that were not turning out quite the way they were expecting. I was especially
delighted about one not working out so well.
It excited me to be able to respond that sometimes one can learn just as
much or more from something not working as it should as something that works out perfectly. Happily, I could have probably typed out two
pages of many ‘great scientists’ who made a mistake that led to a discovery or
who while working on one thing changed direction in order to address another
issue with the unexpected way the research had gone. With that tucked away
somewhere in my mind, the title “How to Learn? From Mistakes” caught my
attention. As Dianne Laufenberg shares
in her talk, the reminder is there sometimes the greatest way to learn is
through mistakes. Students need to
fail some. I could relate to information she presented regarding the educational
system and where the access to information has been located over the years. I had
to admit I had grown up in a culture where the teacher was usually the sage on the
stage, the great dispenser of knowledge.
As a teacher, I continue the battle of transitioning away from becoming
a sage on the stage teacher to more of a teacher that guides students to do, find, and explore on their own...'guide on the side' seems to be the current catch phrase. I find for some students that have been in the system of the
teacher as the great dispenser of information, this can be a challenging transition. Other students, it seems to open up a
wonderful freeing creative process. I too agree with the speaker that often
when I allow students to generate their own projects with minimal guidelines,
much of the work I receive exceeds what I would have received with an extremely
detailed rubric and exemplar. Students simply sometimes use resources and
applications I am not up on. Not only is
there ownership and learning of content knowledge for the student, I often am
able to learn from my students as well. Let’s face it, there is so much
available in our digital age, it is impossible to be a true sage anymore. In the present journey, I rather be a part of
a community of learners where we are all learning from one another than one where
I am a potential limit to who those in my classroom can become.
Happy to share the stage,
Mrs. A
