Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Learning is Messy!

Learning is messy is a thought vocalized by many educators, including myself. While this sounds like a negative, it has a positive connotation when speaking about the student's journey as a learner. Imagine a classroom of young writers immersed in a digital literacy project. Some are using pen and paper to create their draft, others are constructing a digital composition on their iPads and laptops. There's a great deal of buzz, flutter of papers, and tapping of pencils. Computer clicks are heard rapidly firing. Then, from a corner of the room, there are the groans, the stuck sounds, the disappointing comments followed by the pause.

-Forward steps, followed by backsteps are observed.-

From the sidelines comes the coach/faciitator guiding and gently nudging those who need support. Words like "I can't do this" are turned into "I think I can" as the teacher coach huddles the team with a positive chat. With a positive attitude, the community of learners come back onto the field of active learning to finish the challenge.


The messiness of the struggle is realized, identified, and overcome as teachers guide learners to discover new paths. From the apparent cluttered chaos of creation, grit and perseverance prevail to bring students one step closer to success, despite any missteps because dreaming big is inherent in the learning process.

Today is Slice of Life Tuesday so please visit Two Writing Teachers here to read additional slices.

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