Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/questions-to-guide-our-work/5017862/
Among the summer treasures of living in Seattle are the buckets full of blackberries that can be had in nearly any neighborhood, including our city center. Our annual harvest prompted me to create a back-to-school tradition with my grandchildren. Before Labor Day our family gathers around my just-out-of-the-oven pie. As the ice cream gets scooped up, I offer the question, “What do you hope to learn in this coming year?” We each take a turn sharing our thoughts. Coe, about to enter fourth grade, once again, rocked me with his response. “This year I’ve been thinking I should learn how to make use of what they teach us in school, but it isn’t that easy to figure out.”My, my, he’s got that right! As is often the case with gems children offer us, we would do well, as educators, to ponder what Coe is wrestling with here. What are we teaching and why is it so difficult for children to discern its meaning for their lives? Does the problem lie with them or with our teaching?
Coe’s younger brother, Jesse, starting first grade, tried to help his older brother out of this quandary. “When you learn math, you’ll get a better ...