Learning Shouldn't be Scary
I attended a volunteer tutor training yesterday at OASIS in Albuquerque. I will be reading with an elementary school student one hour per week, starting in January. It was an informative session, and I'm looking forward to starting.
There were about twenty people at the training, and one stood out to me because of her fear. Fear of what? I'm not sure but I'm thinking everything. Her biggest fear about reading with a student was that she would start off "making a mistake" by not getting the kid's reading level right. She seemed to think that any mistakes she might make would have devastating consequences for the student.
Like so many of us these days, she wants to know the answers before she even begins. We still seem to think that teachers/tutors should have the answers to feed their students. We talk about education all the time but we don't talk about learning.
So start thinking differently!!! It's as easy as that. Forget education, politics, and money (or the lack thereof). Think about it in terms of LEARNING, and I guarantee you can open up new ideas worthy of discussion.
Learning happens no matter what. No one needs permission to learn. No one needs money to learn. It just happens. What we need to do is guide our kids in their learning so they become productive, successful, and happy in life. Teachers know how to do that!
I wanted to tell this fearful woman that she should just look at this new experience as an adventure. When my kids were little, they would come in the house, announce they were off on an adventure, and pack a lunch for the trip. They would then go on a hike in the nearby canyons. Who knew what they would find? It was always fun to find out.
Working with these kids as a tutor is a freeing experience. We don't have to test them. We get to try out ideas as we get to know the kids we work with. But we are so programmed to expect a test at the end of every learning experience that we worry about the test and not the learning.
This woman was afraid she wouldn't pass the test that doesn't even exist. I wanted to shake her and tell her that this whole thing is meant to be fun, not stressful. Not only will the student learn from her but she will learn as well. It's all good.
Because we don't test our students, we can relax and concentrate on the learning. We can concentrate on the individual child. We can think about how learning happens.
To me, this is the best thing about being a volunteer -- that little bit of extra freedom to concentrate on what's important without having to jump through the political hoops. We can't just do whatever we want. We still have to follow the rules but we don't have to test. That makes all the difference in the world.
There were about twenty people at the training, and one stood out to me because of her fear. Fear of what? I'm not sure but I'm thinking everything. Her biggest fear about reading with a student was that she would start off "making a mistake" by not getting the kid's reading level right. She seemed to think that any mistakes she might make would have devastating consequences for the student.
Like so many of us these days, she wants to know the answers before she even begins. We still seem to think that teachers/tutors should have the answers to feed their students. We talk about education all the time but we don't talk about learning.
So start thinking differently!!! It's as easy as that. Forget education, politics, and money (or the lack thereof). Think about it in terms of LEARNING, and I guarantee you can open up new ideas worthy of discussion.
Learning happens no matter what. No one needs permission to learn. No one needs money to learn. It just happens. What we need to do is guide our kids in their learning so they become productive, successful, and happy in life. Teachers know how to do that!
I wanted to tell this fearful woman that she should just look at this new experience as an adventure. When my kids were little, they would come in the house, announce they were off on an adventure, and pack a lunch for the trip. They would then go on a hike in the nearby canyons. Who knew what they would find? It was always fun to find out.
Working with these kids as a tutor is a freeing experience. We don't have to test them. We get to try out ideas as we get to know the kids we work with. But we are so programmed to expect a test at the end of every learning experience that we worry about the test and not the learning.
This woman was afraid she wouldn't pass the test that doesn't even exist. I wanted to shake her and tell her that this whole thing is meant to be fun, not stressful. Not only will the student learn from her but she will learn as well. It's all good.
Because we don't test our students, we can relax and concentrate on the learning. We can concentrate on the individual child. We can think about how learning happens.
To me, this is the best thing about being a volunteer -- that little bit of extra freedom to concentrate on what's important without having to jump through the political hoops. We can't just do whatever we want. We still have to follow the rules but we don't have to test. That makes all the difference in the world.
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