#4 LET IT GO!

      Oh man, I will never forget that first time I learned to ride a bike. My dad talked me through the mechanics of the bike and how it worked probably 100 times. I had it all figured out. Thank goodness for the training wheels or I would have more injuries than Evel Knievel!  However, the training wheels had to disappear at sometime and that day I am sure my dad found out it was hard to let go. This relationship is a teacher/student learning experience. Students are filled with information on how to do things and where to find answers but the teacher does not know what the result is until they allow students to fail and discover.  If the student fails, then the teacher should reassess what needs to be learned. This is the data that Chris Lehman in his webinar talks about as driving the curriculum. His whole purpose behind the discussion is to promote inquiry based learning and I love that he says "it is not about us it is about the kids." Anytime we find something that interests us we are more likely to be involved and dig deeper. I also think that his outlook on "we want kids to understand how they think and how they learn" is important to the growth of any student. This will allow them to harness the power of thought and knowledge because they can then design the study skills that are customized for themselves. I think that it would be wonderful for every student, no matter the age, to have a personalized education plan that fits them perfect and who better to figure that out than the student. No one knows you better than yourself!
      "It is not about control, it is about support." This statement from Lehmann is a huge obstacle for any adult who is responsible for a classroom full of students to overcome. When I heard this I gave a sigh of relief because this is exactly what I want. I want to be able to facilitate and mediate rather than lecture. I love to talk about the things that I  am interested in but I also like to listen to others talk about the same topics. I have tried in the past to layout the end for students and tell them to fill in the meat of the subject so we can have an educated discussion as a review. My hardest part was hooking the kids. I think my tactics for questioning are what is lacking.
     During the webinar I love that they addressed technology, the use of the cloud and how some schools lack the technology to succeed. This is such a disservice to the students, they are missing out on a large part of the 21st century and must be given the access to technology and the internet. " the world is changing and education needs to remain relevant." this is something that is at the heart of all educators and any blockers of this philosophy need to be pushed to the side in order to make education environments current.
      Assessment became a great discussion among the participants and it is very eye opening to consider an education world with no pass or fail assessments. I agree students are over assessed.   There is no reason that a test should be used to measure passing or failing a course. However, there must be a way to determine growth and learning. That is why I like the ideas involved in inquiry based and project based learning. It is time for me to be better at letting go once the knowledge needed to explore are established.