Learning to learn
My post today will be centered on the Ted Talk What Baby George Taught Me About Learning (2016) by Michael Wesch. If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure that you do. It is well worth the 17 minutes. If 17 minutes is too long, then play it at 1.5 or 2.0 times normal speed.
The primary takeaway for me was to care, really care, about teaching. To do this I must care, really care, about the students. I need to care about them enough to acknowledge my own professional weaknesses and resolve to overcome them. While I was watching the Ted Talk I thought back on a teacher in college that embodied caring at the level I aspire to. I recall that on the fist day of class he came to class having already memorized the names of each student in the class. This small act of caring made me feel worthwhile. It was memorable.
I liked how Michael Wesch discussed programming failure into the learning path. A good teacher knows that many students will struggle and wont hold it against them. Purism is a toxic expectation. Just like Michael’s son George, who failed stepping down off the step for months, wasn’t a failure, neither are students who fall short, but continue striving to succeed. Failure is a product of quitting, not of consistently trying yet still coming up short.
