The Decisive Element (Part I)

Using Haim Ginott's words of wisdom as our guide, we offer the following stories from the HSE Teaching and Learning Team that defend Ginott's argument:

From Laura Rinderknecht: Barbies, Eggs, and Grit

I "played school" really well.  I’ll admit it: I was a great high school student, straight A’s and cruising along, until I hit the wall.  This wall was called Calculus-Based Physics.  It was the hardest thing I ever did academically and was really the first time I had to figure out how to learn.

Fortunately for me, the teacher was outstanding.  She provided a classroom that was completely engaging, encouraged me to work hard (maybe for the first time ever), and allowed me to make mistakes and struggle without penalizing me for my failures.  We dropped Barbie dolls attached to Slinkys over stairwell walls, parachuted eggs off the back of football stadiums, and took CBL’s on roller coasters at Cedar Point.  We even created catapults to toss toilet paper into the calculus teacher’s front yard.

We aren't quite sure how Laura added the Barbie, but....

The engaging activities made the hard work worth the effort, but I also had opportunities for penalty-free failure.  My teacher allowed us to struggle and fail until we got it right. I have no doubt that her class helped give me the “grit” I have today.  My experience was full of learning, trying, failing, adjusting, and trying again:  Applying the big theory (gravity at 9.81 m/s²) to new concepts (eggs attached to parachutes).  Failing miserably (the eggs breaking).  Trying again by tweaking the parachute dimensions and material.  Having more success.  Adjusting again—and again—until I got it right, and by the way, learned the material.

This may be a bit of revisionist history, but my memory is that as long as we kept working and trying, our grades reflected time and effort.  Eventually, the engagement, hard work, and supportive teacher paid off, and I also mastered the content.

So now I work in special education, but the lessons I learned in high school physics still apply.  I get paid to read about nerdy special education theories and then try to figure out how to help make them work in a teacher’s classroom.  I merge evidence-based practices into practical classroom applications. 

Grit, Growth Mindset, Stamina: It's a disposition we can teach!

Theories don’t always work—kids are different than physics experiments—so we adjust our approach. What works for one may not work for another. When a student isn’t growing as we expect, we make adjustments and try again.  We change what we do to make sure we engage the student, we support the student, and we keep the student working.  We certainly don’t penalize the student during the learning/failing/adjusting cycle, but do encourage development of stamina and grit. 

From Stephanie Loane: Charlie Townsend Changed my Life. 

In kindergarten I received a set of Charlie’s Angels action figures. Living life as an Angel in the Townsend Agency became my moderate obsession.  My parents showed no concern for my strange behavior—and were likely unaware that the show was generally inappropriate for their young daughter. 

Each day I transformed the blacktop playground at school into a crime fighting arena, as I assigned missions to classmates at recess. Each assignment followed a sequence of spying, investigating, and acrobatic endeavors to apprehend bad guys. The Angels were called back together as a team for a congratulatory high five before I freed the bad guys from their jump rope shackles and the bell called us back to class for the “real” learning.

This is Stephanie with her favorite toys as a little girl.
How can imaginative play shape a child's life?

Unfortunately, my Angel persona was an unwelcomed character at Holy Trinity School.  It was not the kind of angel they were going for.

Even so, I do believe that the collaborative team work and thirst for social justice required in this game playing contributed to my general beliefs about teaching and learning. I think Boswell would still say to those little girls on the playground, “Well done Angels!”

From Jan: Can Big Feel Small?

I attended a small Lutheran elementary school in rural Michigan.  I had 98 classmates in grades K-8.  Surrounded by farm land, it felt a lot like Little House on the Prairie.  We had multiple grades in the same classroom, went ice skating at recess, and brought our lunches in a lunch box (there was no cafeteria or hot lunch program).  I spent nine years in school with the same fifteen classmates.  We were the “big” class!

This is where Jan went to elementary school.
How can relationships make big feel small?.

At the end of the eighth grade I headed to high school where my graduating class numbered over 550.  It took a little more than a few minutes to adjust!  The first thing I had to learn was that I needed to put my last name on my paper, something completely unnecessary in my elementary years. 

Eventually, I did adapt and grew to love the size, people, diversity and opportunities of my high school.  I learned that there are advantages to both large and small.

Since arriving in HSE, I have heard lots of talk about how large we have become.  We certainly have, but I sometimes think I’m in Texas, as in “Everything is bigger in Texas!” We have large schools at every level, large class sizes, large everything! 

Our challenge is this:  How do we make BIG feel small? 

I was at Fishers High School the other day for their staff meeting, and they started their time together with an activity designed to provide an opportunity to get to know each other a little better.  Their theme was “Making a Big School Feel Small.” 

That is the challenge for each of us.  Let’s all think of things we can do to help our classrooms and schools feel smaller as we foster a strong sense of community through relationship and a sense of belonging. 

That way, even though we are big enough that students must put their last names on the paper, we feel small because our students and their families feel known.

Have a great week, HSE.  Enjoy the long weekend, and come back ready to be the decisive element for our students.

HSE Teaching and Learning Team