Mistakes

Today's conversation went something like this:
"How can I lash the oars when the lashing line isn't tied to the thwart?"
"Why isn't it tied to the thwart?"
"I don't know."
"Try again."
"Because somebody untied it."
"Who untied it?"
"I don't know."
"Was it untied when you got here?"
"No."
"Who untied it?"
"I untied it."
"OK, it just needs to be tied back on.  I'll show you how."

There followed a short lecture on mistakes.  I learned in the boatyard years ago that the most expensive mistakes are the ones that get covered up.  Tearing the stuffing out of a stuffing box is a minor mistake.  Launching that boat with the stuffing box insecure can result in the boat sinking.  For instance.

A wise captain encourages the crew to come forward with mistakes before they grow into something awful.  Kids make mistakes.  It is their job to make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes.  It is our job to make it easy for them to own up to those mistakes so they can learn from them.  It's sometimes opposite to what our society teaches us, but often it is the surest way to learn.

An Apprentice

I've often thought how pleasant life could be if every caring workman and woman could have an apprentice.  Not a full time Johnny Tremain sort of give your life over to learning my trade which you will follow for the rest of your life.  More like I'm pretty fair at tuning up my own car or building boats or shoeing horses.  If my "assigned apprentice" would join me then someone would be there to hand me the wrench that's always out of reach at the critical moment or hold the other end of the plank or steady the horse.  Someone who can't help but learn just by being in the presence of my trade.

If students could be assigned and re-assigned and rotated through the community learning some level of skills and being exposed to a wide variety of caring adults they can't help but have more direction, more skills, and more confidence.

I know there are about a thousand "issues" between this idea and its execution, but I'd love to see somebody knocking them down and letting kids be part of the real world.

Docking

Anthony docked the gig today.  He is all of thirteen, pulls a good oar, and was very keen to try this occasionally difficult maneuver.  His crew agreed to cover his back.  The wind was gentle from the east and the dock was open.  It was a gentle landing.  As Anthony jumped ashore with the stern line and after spring he said, to nobody in particular, "I want to do this every day".

Who can blame him?  Who doesn't enjoy succeeding at a challenge, particularly one that is respected in the community.  How can one not walk taller after such a challenge?

The question remains, then, how can we offer more challenges in the physical world to our youth?  Why is memorizing facts and excelling on standardized tests so terribly important that we put it at the head of our national curriculum?

Respect for the young

There are dozens of people with whom we all come into contact every day who can share with us their experience if we will open ourselves to it.  Many of them are significantly younger than we are.

I learned this important lesson at the tender age of 22 when I began Irish Step Dancing.  The next oldest in the class was 10.  I probably wouldn't have asked her advice on managing my love life or my retirement fund, but she had been dancing for years, she was calmly confident in her skill, and for months she maneuvered me through the expectations of a demanding instructor who didn't have time to individually instruct each of us.

I like to think that I have a degree of maturity equal to my age.  But I long ago stopped believing that just because I'm older I'm supposed to know more than my students about everything.  Kids often have a lot to teach if we'll only get past ourselves and respect what they have to offer.  And, when we do, we will find them significantly more open to what we have to teach them.  Respect of experience is a two way street.

Interest Grouping

I was reading an article in Bright Futures  (http://brightfutures4me.wordpress.com).  The author suggested that we group students according to their interests, knocking aside grades and even age barriers.  Imagine the learning possibilities of a group of kids who are all interested in history or woodcraft of cooking or mechanics or French.  Classroom management becomes significantly less of an issue when students are presented with something to DO.  How much more learning can happen when they are surrounded by other studnts with the same interest from whom they can learn and with whom they can share.

Music

It was raining too hard to enjoy rowing today.  Generally in these circumstances we do knots and rowing machines, depending on the energy level of the crew.  This time, however, was different.  One boy gravitated instantly to the keyboard.  A young girl found her way to the guitar and yet another to the fiddle.

This crew, not all of them but most of them, were drawn to music.  Our knot session became a jam session with something the kids could do with their hands while they listened.  Unless they were dancing.

We didn't make it a big deal, tuning all the instruments to one another and picking a tune we all knew.  We each played what we loved in our turn and each appreciated the skill in our crew mates.

Experiential education is about experience.  Live music counts, particularly as each of us, kids and adults, was completely engaged in what we were hearing.

Experiential education isn't necessarily about rowing.  It's about doing.  Doing music counts.

Homeschool Sports

Time Magazine tells me that home schoolers are still fighting in some states for the privilege of playing on school sports teams.  There are arguments on both sides.  Schools have academic requirements for sports teams to encourage students to keep their grades up.  Home schoolers don't generally follow a standardized curriculum that can produce those grades.  Some schools can be recalcitrant towards individual students.  Some home schooling involves little beyond watching television.

It is complicated to have an individualized education plan for each student.  Yet each student is an individual, subject to growth spurts, maturity spurts, and changes of interests.  It is important that we as a society find the flexibility to address the needs of individual students, not just purport the big box theory of education.  If we simply "offer" education then we are free to be as rigid as we choose.  Read West Point.  The moment we as a society decided to "require" education we committed ourselves to meeting a vast range of needs.  It is a huge responsibility which demands flexibility.  The world has outgrown one education fits all.  Schools must do the same.