Teacher Brain

From the desk of Hope…

It is hard to turn this teacher brain of mine off. 

 

During my beach vacation this year we settled into a nice routine of late afternoon beach time. Having 17 people in our group, the day time routine was chaotic with people having different interests; some playing golf, some lounging through the morning hours and others shopping or running errands. A 3:00 gathering on the beach centered us all for the evening festivities.

 

One afternoon as I was people watching, I noticed two young boys eagerly attempting to fly their kite. This kite did not look like the ones I used to fly when I was a youngster. Rather, it was a more complicated kite with some “bells” and “whistles”. No sooner did the boys grab the kite and begin their attempt, a conversation among adults began, referring to the disaster they were about to witness.

 

Listen in to what I was hearing…..

 

“Boy, this is going to be a good one to put on you tube.” (sarcastic tone)

 

“Look, they have it pointed in the exact wrong direction.”

 

(laughing begins)

 

“The strings are all twisted up so it is never going to work for them a this point…”

 

“Try again, ladies..” (remember these are two boys)

 

“They are pointing the kite in the exact wrong direction. How dumb can you be….”

 

The kite takes a nose dive….laughing and comments continue.

 

I was amazed at how much fun these adults were having watching one failed attempt after another.  I wanted to enter in the conversation and ask if anyone would be willing to show, or at least give them tips on how to fly the kite, but I did not. I was too afraid someone would say something deranged like,  “this is the problem with children these days – we are coddling them too much…”

 

I believe in constructivism in which learners are engaged in the learning process and constructing knowledge for themselves through experiences. These boys were experiencing an authentic attempt with something they had chosen to do and were self motivated to learn how to do it.

 

Perfect.

 

But what about the context of the learning environment – adults laughing and making fun of them, enjoying the entertainment of watching them fail, calling them names.

 

Not so perfect.

 

These two boys did not learn how to fly the kite and they in no way seemed like they had been scared for life. They simply ran on to the next fun thing on the beach.  I, on the other hand, took a long walk on the beach to process what I had just observed.

 

Am I privileged to have a treasury of background knowledge about learning or am I cursed? Sometimes I wish I could turn this teacher brain off.

 

Easier said than done…..