I think sometimes I sell my students short. This year I have a group of students who literally beg for challenges. (They are not your average 10 year olds.) I think I tend to hold back in what I give them because I feel like they can't handle it. You know how sometimes you do an activity and it doesn't go well because students ask a lot of questions or misbehave the entire time? We tend to think, "that was too much for them," and proceed to simplify.
Every once in a while I realize that it wasn't them, it was me. They asked questions because my expectations weren't clear or they goofed around because they were bored!
I had one of those surprising experiences again today. I set my students who have this club up with a blog to communication with each other. I immediately figured it would intimidate them and they wouldn't use it. Right away they proved me wrong and were posting like crazy the first two days. I read the posts and saw them conversing about posting pictures. I posted a quick note about one way to post a picture and finished my post with, "I'll help you with it at school tomorrow." Next thing I know, they've not only figured out pictures, but links, slide shows, polls, and just about every other page element.
It just reminded me that I need to be giving these young people more credit and responsibility and give them occasions to rise to.
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3 comments:
Begging for challenges? Wow! That would be fun to try. :)
It sounds like all of you are having an enjoyable experience with the blog. We often take their exploratory skills for granted. They are so smart, and it's times like these that they show it.
How did you add all the classmates blog? I saw another classmate have all the blogs as well. I would like to add that to my blog so that it's easier to respond to others.
I bet it is refreshing having your students ask to be challenged! It is hard to go from year to year and to change your expections of the students. Often I think we forget that each year is different. I hope you have fun challenging this group of students.
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