Do Lemmings Dream of Summer Vacation

Suck teeth.  Roll eyes.   Sigh.

These are some of the usual reactions I receive from certain students when I answer questions in my own inimitable manner.

The adult reactions vary a bit more and are often more … colorful.

What am I doing to peeve my fellow-man?

Answering a question with a question.

THE CONUNDRUM

We seem to be blaming students’ poor academic achievements and attitudes on “short attention span syndrome” as if it’s a pandemic that has plagued the land for generations.

And a common response to this has been, Kids can’t focus therefore we must take the path of least distance between questions and answers.  For many people it simply translated into, “Give them the answer.”

Pose question, count to ten, no reply, give answer.

I can’t.

Think of just a few places you wouldn’t want to encounter an impatient ill-prepared professional:

• Customer service
• Safety inspectors
• Surgery or the ER
• Accounting or Payroll
• Nuclear physicist
• Teaching

THE APPROACH

My poor offsprings (someone else’s opinion, not mine), as well as students, were not only subject to my question-to-question method, but also “what do you think,” and “look it up.”  I was also quite hardcore about not telling the end of a movie or book they were about to watch or read.  What’s the point?

Someone spent a good deal of time developing …

• Characters: identities, quirks, relationships
• Settings:  locations, history, atmosphere
• Story: pacing, background, suspense, climax

Like any muscle, you don’t develop patience if you’re never given the opportunity or need.

What’s patience good for?

• • Learning
  • Researching
  • Developing
  • Problem solving

https://simmons-company.ck.page/ea6889b338/index.js

It’s also good for truly hearing one another.  Impatient and agitated people tend to launch into aggressive behavior quicker.  And we know where that can lead.   

METHODS

So in approaching creative projects I tend to:

• • • Outline them in a simple manner. Visual aides and demos are a plus.
    • Take time for comprehension Q&A before launching into the project
    • Check in along the way, as a group and with individual students

Listen.

Yes, as instructors we have a lot to say and share. But of what good is that if we’re being heard clearly?

When a student presents his or her idea, be sure you truly hear what they are trying to say.

Admit when you do not understand something.

If it’s okay for the teacher to be confused by something, students are less timid about admitting their confusion.

Discuss concepts and ideas.

Verbalizing a concept often gives students a chance to work out their ideas.

With the more impatient students try to equate the learning process to something they have already experienced (sports, video games, dance, etc.).

No one mastered anything first time out!

Skinned knees and bruises sometimes are the best teachers.

Finally, if a student insist (in their own hard-headed way) that they already k now how to do such and such, let them do it.  If it works, then they’ve demonstrated that skill.  If it falls on its face, as you suspected it would – then you’ve allowed them the opportunity to learn that for themselves.

Learning and experiencing the process of achieving something out of nothing helps to build patience.  Each effort strengthens the muscle, and each success cements the technique.  Our task is not only to help them experience that, but also to help guide them through the moments of frustration when success evades us.

Hard lessons all – but beneficial and necessary to navigate the world at large.