Lost in the Woods

Whenever I introduce active reading to learners, I like to equate comprehension and the quest for meaning in a text to hiking in the woods. Having been lost in the woods a few times (born usually of my own curiosity and ignorance), I like to ask learners what they would do if they found themselves lost in the woods. Invariably, learners decide that standing in the middle of the woods and admitting you are lost is a good start since accepting such a thing can be difficult. But what if that's all we choose to do - just admit that we are lost and then wait around for help to arrive? Many readers do the same when they encounter difficult text - they stop and wait around for someone to help.

Since many of the classrooms in our building use the rotational model of instruction, learners are expected to work independently and collaboratively in addition to the more traditional direct instruction led by the facilitator. Many of our learners find themselves "lost in the woods" trying to figure out the content in our classrooms, particularly in the independent and collaborative rotations. When they acknowledge being lost, the first response is often to raise a hand or go directly to the facilitator for assistance. While many will say that this is our job as facilitators, we should wonder if we aren't teaching these learners that there will always be someone nearby to supply an answer and/or clarify their confusion. I cannot help but envision someone lost in the middle of the woods with his/her hand raised in the air and wondering why no one has arrived to lend aid. Perhaps if they shake their hand and arm back and forth with vigor it will alter the outcome….

We are facilitators and as such our job is to facilitate learning. This goes beyond just our content knowledge to making sure learners first attempt to help themselves before immediately coming to us. In order for this to happen, it is necessary for us to help learners understand that the first, second, third…attempts to correct confusion may not always be successful. We may reread a portion of text many times, or work to simplify an equation several times, or even walk in a direction that might actually lead us away from where we want to be. But what matters is that we are attempting to embrace our confusion by doing something, by working through the mystery and the unknown in an attempt to figure it out. This is the essence of learning.

We all need facilitators in our lives, but the best ones are those who encourage us to figure it out on our own and provide some tools when needed. Raising our hand in life does indeed draw attention and illicit assistance, if available. All we've learned, however, is that we know how to raise our hand for someone to offer us some assistance - without ever needing to struggle and figure things out. Learners need this struggle in order for real learning to occur. When we end up "lost in the woods," a raised hand won't mean much, but knowing how to think through the situation and take some steps to change it will.

Permission to Suck

This summer I read The Heart to Start by David Kadavy, a short read with the subtitle "Stop Procrastinating & Start Creating." As someone who struggles with getting started and fighting the productivity-killing "What ifs…?" that plague my thinking process, this book needed me to read it. Its straightforward, direct style provided an explanation of what keeps us from growing in our work and some simple advice for taking the first step towards that growth. One particular chapter - "Permission to Suck" - connected closely with the work that I want to do for the facilitators and learners in our building. Because I struggle with getting started, always aware of the possibility of failing, I have become adept at not starting. This is not a way to promote growth. Kadavy writes, "If we never get started, we never get good, and you can't get good without first being bad. …[Y]ou need to accept that your first attempts will not be up to your standards. You have to give yourself Permission to Suck." Pardon my next thought, but I suck at giving myself Permission to Suck. In my mind it is akin to waking each day with a goal of mediocrity in all that I do, or sitting back and being content with a rating of "Satisfactory" for my work. But at the same time, I know that my inability to grant myself Permission to Suck is simply my pride reacting to my failing efforts. I need to grant myself permission because if I don't, I'll never grow as an educator. I need to understand that not all parts of my efforts will result in overwhelming success. Some will simply suck. The focus should be on what is learned from simply getting started and working to create and improve. So as you prepare for the new school year, for tackling new challenges and pushing yourself as an educator, remember to cut yourself some slack and give yourself Permission to Suck. Not only is this a valuable piece of advice for facilitators, but it is equally important for learners to understand that we need to Suck before we get better.