Monday Mush

I hope your spring break was relaxing and wonderful.  We are in the home stretch now…this year has been amazing, and we have already accomplished so much.  I always look forward to this time of year because we see everyone settle in to hit that final stride to finish out the year.  I know it will be a successful year, and we will be able to look back on it in June and be proud of the work we did.

This quote ties in so well with our goals for discovery learning and for student ownership.  Teaching isn’t the same as when we were kids…it is about allowing students the opportunity to discovery and problem solve for themselves.  These are skills that they can use for life, and they can be applied to any curriculum or subject area.  If you can think for yourself, you will be a better employee, student, and citizen. 

We can always tell students what they should be learning or how to do a skill/task.  Most likely that will only benefit 40-50%.  We can practice it together and that will help some too.  But, there is only way one to engage all the students and have all learning at a high rate.  And, that is to be their facilitator while they “teach themselves.”  I think it is exciting when you walk into a classroom and the teacher knows the end goal, but the students are excitedly figuring it out for themselves.  I can remember my own elementary, junior high, and high school classes that had lessons we learned while exploring.  I still remember how to do those things….some of the other information I was just told in school, well I probably have forgotten.

I bet we can all think of things that we had to teach ourselves.  Maybe it was a statistics course in college or grad school and the professor made no sense….maybe it was car repair and you couldn’t afford the mechanic….maybe it was a dance lessons for an upcoming celebration….maybe it was making curtains or valances...   The list could go on and on.

My point is those “self taught” activities are probably the most cemented in our brains.  We aren’t going to forget because we took the time to power through and learn them.  We do it because we had motivation to do it.  Those same principles are true for our students.  We need to give them the motivation they need want to learn it for themselves, and the coaching to power through to get the results.  They will be better for it on the other side.

I appreciate all you do!  I brag on you guys all I can, and I got to do it today…always great when people hear “how wonderful Huggins is.”  I get to say “Yep, the staff is amazing, and they are fun to work with!”

Thanks for all you do—Happy Monday!