I think the absolute key is that learning, the education of a child, is a long process, and we are now in the middle of a fast food society. We want instant everything. We even have books now like Algebra Made Easy and Shakespeare Made Easy. But I want teachers and parents to remember that it’s not easy! To be good at anything—anything!—takes thousands and thousands of hours of patient study, and I want people to know that when kids make mistakes or have setbacks, we don’t need to jump all over them for every little thing.It is a wonderful interview with a great teacher.
This blog is dedicated to sharing the concept that our hands are essential to learning- that we engage the world and its wonders, sensing and creating primarily through the agency of our hands. We abandon our children to education in boredom and intellectual escapism by failing to engage their hands in learning and making.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
lighting fires
There is an interview with Rafe Esquith, author of Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire in Teacher Magazine. From the intereview:
Funny you should mention how long it takes to be good at something. I'm currently reading a book called This Is Your Brain On Music, which puts the time needed to be good at playing an instrument, or good at any skill in general, at 10,000 hours of practice. I bet you've got that under your belt.
ReplyDeleteMario
Great interview, thanks for posting that! It reminded me of a parent who once complained that her child didn't like books, and then it turns out that she and her husband are both IT people and spend all evening in front of the computer. Go figure... :) Glad to hear there are teachers out there making a difference!
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