Knowledge

Yesterday as I was teaching, I was again forced to face something I have known my entire career. When things are easy, my students are more than willing to regurgitate information they have "learned" in class. When things are challenging or when the students are required to think, they are completely unwilling to exert any effort. It is so frustrating. As long as the information is spoon fed to them and as long as they don't really have to DO anything, the students are completely willing to "work".

I can only speak about my own students and I know this problem is not necessarily universal, but in my experience, students do not want to THINK! They do not want to meet a challenge and put forth brain power to conquer the challenge. I see it every day. When the work is viewed as simple, the students will work quietly on it. When thinking is required, the students go into shut down mode and exhibit "off task" behaviors. Talking, goofing off, getting out of seats etc... I hear the same things every day. "This is too hard!". "I can't do this!". "I don't get it!". Obviously as a teacher, it is my job to help students through tasks that are difficult for them. However, in 25 years it has been my experience that kids don't really want me to help them. They want me to give them the answers so they don't have to think. Wouldn't you agree there is a difference between helping students figure things out for themselves as opposed to just giving them the answers?

You've heard the saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink". Well, How about this?