School Bells – Current Affairs – Grade 1 – Week 26
These weeks certainly roll around quickly but not so quickly that I get less excited about meeting with the first-grade scholars. In fact, I feel as if I learn more from them than I do from listening to the news of my so- called educated adults peers who seem to spend a lot of energy attempting to prove that they are right or better than and very little attempting to solve problems.
I am particular eager to hear what these young scholars have to say about the art of making mistakes. They are arriving.
Me: Good morning scholars. How are you?
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim. Cookies?
Me: No cookies today, but I promise to bring some next week.
I am eager what you and your families has to say about the art of making mistakes
Ahmes: At first we were confused by the word art. When I think of art I think of what I see at the museum or what I draw or what we brought with us from Egypt which sets on shelves. My uncle is a potter and stuff is art.
Me: That is a great point. Are you still confused or did you and your family work out the confusion?
Ahmes: Mom said that dance is also art. When I was little and something would not work, I would get angry and cry. Now, most of the time I ask for help or try to solve the problem myself. Art then become how I respond to the problem or the mistake.
Me: That is excellent. Does anyone else have any comments on the use of the term art with regards to how we respond to mistakes?
Sue: I like what Ahmes said. When I first had to use the wheelchair, I would try to do something with it or get in or out of it and I was always doing something which make the problem worse. Then mom or dad would let me cry and then suggest that we try to figure out what the problem was before I tried solving it.
Me: Great example Sue. Say more about figuring out what the problem was.
Sue: Well, maybe I was trying to find a wheelchair ramp and kept ending up where there were just stairs. I thought the problem was I did not know where the ramp was. My dad suggested that the problem was that I was embarrassed to ask for directions even though everyone could see I was in a wheelchair
Me: Ahh. So, you had correctly identified the problem. Sometimes individually we cannot identify the problem very accurately but often together we can more clearly identify it. Let’s take the example of some viruses which cause disease. I cannot just say “bad virus” and throw a rock at it. I need to know that the cell is very tiny and sometimes the virus hides inside the cell. The problem is that I do not know how to tell a medicine how to open the door of the cell and kill the virus without hurting anything else.
I draw this on the board.
Now I can see what research has already been done about opening the door and killing a particular virus.
Sofia: Mom said that when my brother and I were tiny we explored everything including sticking stuff in places such as electrical outlets. We did not know that was dangerous.
Steve: Yes, sometimes I wanted to see what would happen if I took my juice and snack and make a pie on the carpet. I did not know that was bad for the carpet – that I needed to use a bowl. Some things I “made” were yucky.
Me: I hear people saying:
· Finding new ways of doing thing usually means we will make lots of mistakes.
· The better we identify the problem the fewer mistakes we will make.
· Asking for help or suggestions is often good.
· When we are little we do not know what to ask.
What else? Why do we take tests or do homework?
Tara: To learn Mr. Jim?
Me: Very good Tara. So, if we already knew everything we would not have to go to school.
Tara: Sometimes I forget what I learned.
Me: We all do. We will remember some things we learn but mostly we learn how to learn. That means we also learn the art of learning and the art of making mistakes.
Tommy: So is it good to make mistakes Mr. Jim.
Me: We are going to make mistakes but we do not want to make the same mistakes over and over again. We need to learn from our mistakes. Sometimes we keep a record of what has been tried. Doctors working on cures for certain diseases keep a careful record of what has been tried.
Sam: You always make Paul and me stop and explore our mistakes Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes. You are both getting really good about knowing we are all going to make mistakes and seeing what we can learn from them. All of you in this class are really doing well with both of these.
Gosh. Time is almost up. Good job everyone. Next week we can continue this conversation by talking about why so many kids and adults have a problem admitting mistakes. Steve, will you hand out the assignment please.
Steve: Yes, Mr. Jim.
Me: Thanks. Have a good week everyone!
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Class: Goodbye Mr. Jim. Don’t forget the cookies.
Written February 23, 2017
These weeks certainly roll around quickly but not so quickly that I get less excited about meeting with the first-grade scholars. In fact, I feel as if I learn more from them than I do from listening to the news of my so- called educated adults peers who seem to spend a lot of energy attempting to prove that they are right or better than and very little attempting to solve problems.
I am particular eager to hear what these young scholars have to say about the art of making mistakes. They are arriving.
Me: Good morning scholars. How are you?
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim. Cookies?
Me: No cookies today, but I promise to bring some next week.
I am eager what you and your families has to say about the art of making mistakes
Ahmes: At first we were confused by the word art. When I think of art I think of what I see at the museum or what I draw or what we brought with us from Egypt which sets on shelves. My uncle is a potter and stuff is art.
Me: That is a great point. Are you still confused or did you and your family work out the confusion?
Ahmes: Mom said that dance is also art. When I was little and something would not work, I would get angry and cry. Now, most of the time I ask for help or try to solve the problem myself. Art then become how I respond to the problem or the mistake.
Me: That is excellent. Does anyone else have any comments on the use of the term art with regards to how we respond to mistakes?
Sue: I like what Ahmes said. When I first had to use the wheelchair, I would try to do something with it or get in or out of it and I was always doing something which make the problem worse. Then mom or dad would let me cry and then suggest that we try to figure out what the problem was before I tried solving it.
Me: Great example Sue. Say more about figuring out what the problem was.
Sue: Well, maybe I was trying to find a wheelchair ramp and kept ending up where there were just stairs. I thought the problem was I did not know where the ramp was. My dad suggested that the problem was that I was embarrassed to ask for directions even though everyone could see I was in a wheelchair
Me: Ahh. So, you had correctly identified the problem. Sometimes individually we cannot identify the problem very accurately but often together we can more clearly identify it. Let’s take the example of some viruses which cause disease. I cannot just say “bad virus” and throw a rock at it. I need to know that the cell is very tiny and sometimes the virus hides inside the cell. The problem is that I do not know how to tell a medicine how to open the door of the cell and kill the virus without hurting anything else.
I draw this on the board.
Now I can see what research has already been done about opening the door and killing a particular virus.
Sofia: Mom said that when my brother and I were tiny we explored everything including sticking stuff in places such as electrical outlets. We did not know that was dangerous.
Steve: Yes, sometimes I wanted to see what would happen if I took my juice and snack and make a pie on the carpet. I did not know that was bad for the carpet – that I needed to use a bowl. Some things I “made” were yucky.
Me: I hear people saying:
· Finding new ways of doing thing usually means we will make lots of mistakes.
· The better we identify the problem the fewer mistakes we will make.
· Asking for help or suggestions is often good.
· When we are little we do not know what to ask.
What else? Why do we take tests or do homework?
Tara: To learn Mr. Jim?
Me: Very good Tara. So, if we already knew everything we would not have to go to school.
Tara: Sometimes I forget what I learned.
Me: We all do. We will remember some things we learn but mostly we learn how to learn. That means we also learn the art of learning and the art of making mistakes.
Tommy: So is it good to make mistakes Mr. Jim.
Me: We are going to make mistakes but we do not want to make the same mistakes over and over again. We need to learn from our mistakes. Sometimes we keep a record of what has been tried. Doctors working on cures for certain diseases keep a careful record of what has been tried.
Sam: You always make Paul and me stop and explore our mistakes Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes. You are both getting really good about knowing we are all going to make mistakes and seeing what we can learn from them. All of you in this class are really doing well with both of these.
Gosh. Time is almost up. Good job everyone. Next week we can continue this conversation by talking about why so many kids and adults have a problem admitting mistakes. Steve, will you hand out the assignment please.
Steve: Yes, Mr. Jim.
Me: Thanks. Have a good week everyone!
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Class: Goodbye Mr. Jim. Don’t forget the cookies.
Written February 23, 2017
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