Over the past few weeks, our oldest daughter (who is five) started
to ride her bike without training wheels while our youngest daughter (who is
one) started walking. It has been a few
weeks full of excitement, challenges and lots to celebrate. Looking back on these two events, I could not
help but think about how these lessons apply to the classroom and how we
support learning.
Encouragement:
Encouraging a child to try something new is essential for
learning to occur. If we never
encouraged children to move beyond where they currently are, their potential
and full learning would not be reached. Sometimes
this even means pushing him to the edge of his comfort level with the necessary
support structures. Using appropriate encouragement allows the
child to know they are safe and their efforts are being acknowledged.
Lydia started walking a few weeks ago. When she first started, she would stand and
just wonder what she needed to do next.
We were quick to praise her efforts and encourage her to take a step,
even a small step. When she took that
first step, we encouraged another step and then another. Next thing we know, she was stepping all
over the place!
Feedback:
Susan Brookhart, in
her book, How to give effective feedback
to your students, writes:
Feedback can be very
powerful if done well. The power of formative feedback lies in its
double-barreled approach, addressing both cognitive and motivational factors at
the same time. Good feedback gives students information they need so they can
understand where they are in their learning and what to do next—the cognitive
factor. Once they feel they understand what to do and why, most students
develop a feeling that they have control over their own learning—the
motivational factor.
Good feedback
contains information that a student can use, which means that the student has
to be able to hear and understand it. Students can't hear something that's
beyond their comprehension; nor can they hear something if they are not
listening or are feeling like it would be useless to listen. Because students'
feelings of control and self-efficacy are involved, even well-intentioned
feedback can be very destructive. ("See? I knew I was stupid!") The
research on feedback shows its Jekyll-and-Hyde character. Not all studies about
feedback show positive effects. The nature of the feedback and the context in
which it is given matter a great deal.
When Maggie was learning to ride her bike without training
wheels, one of her biggest challenges was riding downhill. Inevitably, she would start off rather slow
and then get faster and faster. I
explained to her how to use her brakes, I demonstrated on the bike how to use
the brakes, and I told her when to use the brakes as she was riding. The feedback that I gave her was immediate
and specific so she knew when and how to use the brakes to achieve her goal –
slowing down.
Small Steps:
Learning does not occur all at once. No two children learn the same way nor do
they learn at the same time. The
learning should be the constant and the time is the variable. We need to understand that learning does not
occur in the same manner for all students and sometimes we need to scaffold
their learning and break it into smaller chunks to help them achieve their overall
goal.
When Maggie was learning to get started on her bike all by
herself, the support we gave her varied as she learned new skills. Initially, I
held on to the back of her seat. Then I
showed her how to push off with her feet to get her bike going. Then I showed her how to push off with one
foot while the other was on the pedal.
Then she was able to push off and start pedaling.
Failure:
Susan Brookhart, in
her book, How to give effective feedback
to your students, also writes:
A strong learning environment in which
students see constructive criticism as a good thing and understand that
learning cannot occur without practice. If part of the classroom culture is to
always "get things right," then if something needs improvement, it's
"wrong." If, instead, the classroom culture values finding and using
suggestions for improvement, students will be able to use feedback, plan and
execute steps for improvement.
One of my favorite acronyms for FAIL is
First Attempt in Learning. I can’t tell
you how many times Lydia would take a step and then fall over, but she would
get back up and try again. And I can’t
tell you how many times Maggie would attempt to get her bike going all by
herself and not be successful. However,
when she was able to do so, the expression on her face and the sense of
accomplishment was unmatched by anything I have seen before.
Celebration:
Celebrating efforts and success is an important part of what
we do each and every day. Children need
to be able to find success in and out of the classroom and we need to take the
time to celebrate these successes along the way. Not all celebrations need to be a grand
event; as long as the celebration is authentic and timely, it can have long
lasting effects!
When both Maggie and Lydia were attempting to master their
goals, we provided little celebrations along the way. High Fives, verbal praise, calling
grandparents… all these little things helped them continue to work toward
meeting their goals.
