Hand-Holding

Are you a hand-holder? Do you clasp or interlace fingers?
Steve, Eric and I had a great talk yesterday (we missed you Gunner...) and at one point Steve mentioned something about "letting go" as a teacher, that we do too much "hand-holding" with students.
He's right.
I'm horribly guilty of it, and it's one thing I'm trying to be conscious of on this journey.
Sometimes this means giving students choice. I'm good at this.
Other times, this mean letting them figure it out however they want. I'm NOT always good at this.
Cora and I met briefly yesterday to talk through an activity we planned for our biology students where they evaluate the cost and benefit of different prey species for lions. The worksheet is meant to be very NGSS "phenomenon" (read:inquiry) based and it is pretty great. But the worksheet set up a table for them to fill out based on all these math calculations.
We learned two things:
1. TRUST them.
2. TRY.
After we spent 30 minutes trying to make the instructions for how to the do the calculations easier to understand, Cora says, "Wait! Why are we doing all this?! Why are we doing all the work?! Not only is it STILL confusing - it will be MEANINGLESS to them. They will plug in numbers and find an answer. We should just give them to data and a question and let them figure it out!"
She was right. She deleted almost the entire worksheet, handed them a data table and asked them to determine which species was the most worthwhile to hunt on your own as a lion. It was TERRIFYING!
But we have to TRY. We have to be all in - How can we expect that of our students if we don't?!
And we have to TRUST them. They will produce results and are SO much more capable than we give them credit for. They all did the calculations differently, some of them had VERY different ideas and opinions, answers and claims. But they engaged in REAL debates using REAL evidence they calculated themselves so they had some ownership of their claim.
Sure, a few kids tried to get away with not doing some work. Cora sent them out to hall not to return until they had something to contribute. One of them did! The other two made their choice.
I can't wait to see how it goes with my students tomorrow.

Comments

  1. TylerNovember 16, 2018 at 1:20 PM

    I still struggle with this often as an educator. We are so afraid of letting students struggle at all that we just tell them to get in the car and we'll take them all the way to the learning. But, the reality is that learning happens through struggle. I can think of so many times where the only reason I learned something really well is because I was in a situation where I failed, got stuck, or couldn't figure out what to do next. Was it uncomfortable for a bit? Absolutely. Did I learn more from it than I would have without the struggle? Absolutely!

    The tricky part is how we teach our students to respond to the struggle because, on their own and without being taught how to handle adversity, some of our students will give up. It's this delicate balance of knowing how much struggle our students can take, teaching them skills and strategies to overcome adversity, and creating environments where they are willing to push through the struggle.

    Thanks for getting me thinking this Friday afternoon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mrs. ANovember 16, 2018 at 1:59 PM

      I had a fantastic experience today navigating the tricky part! I love puzzles, and it was so like a puzzle trying to figure out the right questions to ask the students to give them the confidence to keep trying, teasing the information they knew but weren't confident expressing. Students were arguing heatedly about lion diets! Not just the "good students", but the ones who think they are "bad at science" and who often sit in their seats and leave their papers blank. EVERY table volunteered to use the microphone to share their claim. and many volunteered to argue points others made because they had an argument with evidence to back up their thinking. I actually sat on the FLOOR next to two kids today just to surprise them, like some sort of visual representation of reassurance that I wasn't leaving them while we tried to figure it out together. It was exhausting, but I had more energy after the "win" I felt after getting them engaged that it made it all worth it!

      Delete
  2. keeptheneedlescenteredNovember 20, 2018 at 1:11 PM

    I agree with you on the tricky part. I know some students here at TMMS still get mom and dad to help them through the struggle...but not when the student is here. When I run an activity like yours I get a lot of "could you help me with this..??" I love replying with the "I know you can find this info out without my help...so give it a try first." When I check back in with them they are well beyond where they were and more confident too. A few stall out but redirecting usually works. I think they enjoy this approach more yet don't admit it very often. I always look forward to what they create.

    ReplyDelete

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