Think about that idea. I would like to take credit for this as an original quote; but, I will leave it open sourced for the time being. However, let's get back to pondering this idea. There are other ways to say it the exact same thing. "Give a person to fish, feed them for a day; show a person to fish feed them for a lifetime," and many more.
I am sure that as you read this you have said something similar. And of course, there is a story.
All those years spent holding the flashlight while working on a car. Being the "go-for" in the kitchen. Holding the knot with one finger as we tied up the newspapers for recycling. Holding the fishing rod perfectly still; making sure the hook doesn't move when tying on the lure.
Those were my jobs growing up. Yet I know how to change the oil in the car, cook a decent meal, and tie several different knots for different purposes. That is so weird. I learned and I didn't even know I was learning.
I wasn't given a piece of paper that explained the finer points of changing 10W40 in a six cylinder engine utilizing synthetic oil every 3,000 miles. I held the flashlight, eventually I graduated to unscrewing the filter, and finally I could do the whole process. The process of utilizing a roux to thicken the sauce was not a detailed lecture given prior to completing the task. I was asked to get the flour and butter, then I was asked to measure equal amounts, finally I was able to put it in a pan to get the right color and consistency.
I learned through watching at first then by doing and failing.
Think about it. The same is true about education. How many times have you sat in a classroom bored because you are sitting a listening to a lecture? It could have been a college class, graduate school, or your most recent observed lesson.
But how many classes did you have where you actually did something? Pulled hydrogen and oxygen from water using a battery and two test tubes, discovered that same side exterior angles are supplementary by staring at two parallel lines that are crossed by a transversal and proving it using GEOMETRY. These are awesome ways to learn.
Watch. Try. Do. Struggle. Fail. Succeed. LEARN. Have you ever been in that lesson where you just can't help but get engaged and you find your hand is going up more often than the students'?
It is time that we look to put an end to the listen and learn. Most kids get bored with that idea by the time they are four:
Let's give our middle school students a bit more respect then "A cow says moo." Let's look to show them the genus and species of a cow and how they became an integral part of agriculture that led to a the dawn of civilization. Don't tell them that, show them how to use books and the internet to research that idea.
This will be the topic or our first Twitter Chat for #bcps_msm
Best Practices for Engaging the Middle School Learner
Questions will be posted to this blog soon and then sent out via Twitter. This will be a #slowEDchat style chat for this first round. Five questions will be posted on Twitter. One question each day. All responses must use the #bcps_msm tag in order to be recorded. We will then use the tool Storify to organize all of are responses and share with the world.
Start sharing with your peers. It is time we look to engage our students to prevent them from leaving us: either mentally checking out of school or physically dropping out.
