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Being Led Astray is Okay
May 7, 2009
The secret to seeing children is to understand that most seemingly ordinary events have great significance if you stop to notice and study them.
-Deb Curtis, Really Seeing Children
-Deb Curtis, Really Seeing Children
"When we go off the beaten path, we often find something better or more exciting than we were originally looking for. For example, physicist Karl Jansky improvised a new antenna to study the effects of telephone static. Instead, he discovered radio waves from the Milky Way galaxy, and in the process helped create the science of radioastronomy. In 1856, chemist William Perkin searched for a synthetic quinine to combat malaria. Instead, he discovered a dyestuff that was the first practical synthetic color....
"Think of the times in your own life when one thing has led to something entirely different. How did you get interested in your line of work? How about the times you have gone to the library in search of a particular book, and then found something even better on the shelf behind you? As writer Franklin Adams put it, 'I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way.'
"How can we prepare ourselves for the unexpected? I suggest that we: (1) loosen our preconceptions about what we expect to find in any given situation; (2) pay special attention to the anomalous rather than ignoring it; and (3) use what we discover as stepping stones to something very different. Why don't we adopt this outlook more often? A major reason is that in order to get things done, we tend to filter out information that strikes us as 'irrelevant'. Indeed I find that I'm less likely to find the unexpected when I'm in a hurry or narrowly focused on a specific task. Conversely, when I'm relaxed or playful, there's a greater probability that unexpected things will flow my way."
Exchange has packaged 7 of its most popular curriculum resources into a single “Curriculum Tool Kit” and is offering the entire set at a 33% discount — separately these resources would cost $166, but we are offering the entire Tool Kit for only $112. Resources in the kit include:
- Beginnings Workshops Book #4 - Curriculum: Brain Research, Math, Science
- Beginnings Workshops Book #5 - Curriculum: Art, Music, Movement, Drama
- Hearing Everyone’s Voice: Educating Young Children for Peace and a Democratic Community
- Connecting: Friendship in the Lives of Young Children
- More Than Numbers: Mathematical Thinking in the Early Years
- Exchange Articles Collection #3 - Children with Differing Abilities
- Out of the Box Training Kit (printed version): Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum
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ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.
Put a sink where it’s needed most
In the classroom, or on the playground, it’s portable, self contained, and very affordable. Plumbing is NOT required. Have hot & cold running water when you need it where you need it. Ideal for hand washing with young children
In the classroom, or on the playground, it’s portable, self contained, and very affordable. Plumbing is NOT required. Have hot & cold running water when you need it where you need it. Ideal for hand washing with young children
Comments (2)
Displaying All 2 CommentsSeattle, WA, United States
Couldn't agree with you more, Gwen. Makes me think of a quote Abby Cohen just gave me from Einstein:
"Everything that counts can't be counted, and everything that can be counted doesn't count." Our new-found ardor for accountability and measurement, for assessing kids to prove our worth and our rigor, can rob children of the richness of time to "waste" in discovery and wonder.
Wheelock College Hawes Street Campus
United States
I can't help thinking about how relevant this is to teaching in our schools. As we add UPK classrooms in the schools we need to remember the importance of developing creativity and spontaneity in our teachers and in our children. Instead we drill down on the expected, we try to measure the expected, and we are choking off our future possibilities.
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