C4T #2

Training and Coaching

In David Truss's blog post "Training and Coaching," he starts off by talking about his daughter's synchronized swimming, and how she trains 22+ hours a week, and how her aerobic and anaerobic conditioning is exceptional, then a routine is over and done with in 5 minutes. He combines his daughter's synchronized swimming with inquiry learning, and wonders "what kinds of structures can we build to help train our students as they do their inquiry learning dance." He believes educators should use an inquiry model, and think of ourselves as coaches. He says this, "The conditioning is cross-curricular, the practice needs to be purposeful, and tehy training is ongoing, with opportunities to improve many skills throughout the process."
In the comment I left under this post, I mentioned how I haven't really thought of coaching and teaching being similar. I gave this example, "Especially in the lower grades, such as Kindergarten through second. These students are just learning how to write their letters and numbers and learning how to read. We have to coach them on how to do this, and they have to practice over and over in order to memorize how to say and write those letters and words."

Learning and Failure

David Truss talks about learning sprouting from failure. "Failure can be very unproductive," he says, but also says, "Failure can also be an amazing tool for learning, and perhaps one that every student should experience before graduation." He mentions that everyone should do something big, as well as meaningful, beyond classroom walls, and even if they fail they will have a tremendous learning experience in the process. David also mentions that if students have only met success and accomplished every assignment, project, and task then they weren't pushed hard enough, and it is the programs fault not the students.
In the comment I left under this post I said, "If we don't fail, then how are we suppose to learn our mistakes?" I shared with him something my parents used to always tell me about failure. I also let him know that I agreed with him on if a student doesn't fail sometime before graduation, then it is the programs (sometimes the educators) fault. Go check out David Truss's Blog