I couldn’t agree more! I, personally, have learned a lot (especially in coding) by just trial and Google! It gives you the chance to try your best (because you know there will be no-one to teach you) and to fix your own mistakes. I really see it as one of the most effective learning methods.

I don’t know if I would take it as far as being mindful of every mundane thing that I do. I get it that you should be a mindful and be in the present experience your life. I don’t feel being mindful is an all or nothing approach, rather pick and choose when it is appropriate to be mindful. For instance, I am never going to mindfully drive through Iowa. I would rather think about things that are worth the energy than noticing all the corn that is around. I think it is important to dwell on the past and think of the future, to learn from and prepare for. If I decide to use some mundane basic time to think about those things, it is a choice that I can live with.

I agree – of course there are people who are just ignorant and there really isn’t a whole lot we can do about it (unfortunately).

It is interesting, because it seems that very young children are constantly asking “why?” To the point where it can become annoying and overwhelming. I wonder if parents inadvertently contribute to the accepting things without asking why that inevitably comes later?

Interesting – yes, it must be relevant! Could you elaborate on how the Korean system allows less “freedom” in this regard?

I agree that it is important to question the why, but isn’t there a line that needs to be drawn somewhere? I’m thinking of the people who calmly deny that the Earth is round or climate deniers. Sure it is important to look critically at the facts, and consider multiple perspectives; but, isn’t it an act of sheer ignorance when you don’t believe such things that are overwhelmingly true/supported? It is incumbent on a person to have a grasp of the facts that are available. Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean you can ignore them and believe something else. I guess there is a lot of nuance to asking the question of why.

I appreciate your post and I’m glad that you brought up this idea of friction. I agree, students might complain. But what if we are straightforward with our students and explain why we are doing what we are doing? And I completely agree that teachers and educators are overworked. But sometimes small changes can have a big impact. We don’t always have to make drastic changes to make important improvements. I am excited for next week when we talk more about assessments because there are so many different ways that we can evaluate progress, provide feedback, and determine if students have gotten what we want them to out of our class. To me, we need to keep pushing to overcome a lot of that friction and get the ball rolling. I want to be involved in building that track for the change train instead of waiting until everything is sorted out (because who is going to build that track if we don’t). Things don’t always go perfectly, but I have to try to the best that I can. Thanks for the post and for starting such a great discussion!

Interesting post. I agree that it is important that students learn to ask “why” at any stage of their learning process, or even better, be taught to think on their own and come up with their own solution, before blindly accepting the “right” solution.
This sheep behavior can be seen in many aspects of our lives. We need to understand that there is not a single right way in life, everyone has his/her own right path to create.

What a great idea! I really like the idea of having students work to accomplish something during more passive moments in a class. I would love to hear about your experiences if you try this out in a class! Your post also reminded me of a talk I was at last year at CHEP that talked about doodling as a way to take notes. We tried it out in the conference session and it was really fun and engaging and encouraged me to think about the material and pick out important aspects and show relationships between ideas. It was really great!

Thanks for your post! I really appreciate your idea of being transparent in your teaching and telling your students the importance of being mindful and thinking critically. I have found that students are very receptive when they understand why they are doing something. Sometimes we just need to tell students that we are not wanting them to give “the right answer.” We want them to engage with the ideas and explore multiple perspectives and connect information and see it from new angles. I will be interested to hear how trying this out in your classroom goes! Thanks for the post!

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