Saturday Sayings

Participating in this Saturday Sayings idea has been so much fun!  I am going to be "blog stalking" Tammy as she continues on this journey!  I wanted to end my last Saturday Sayings with a quote that I think about often as I am planning for my instruction.  I hope that it makes you stop and think, as it has for me!

The fundamental purpose of school is learning, not teaching

Duh! I know this, you know this, we all know this! I find sometimes that I am hung up on teaching, teaching, teaching and I need to stop and see- are the kiddos learning?  How do I know that they are learning? What should I be doing/ who should I ask for help, if they aren't learning?  My goal for myself is to make sure that my students learn- not to put on a one-woman performance Monday - Friday! :)

Well, short and sweet (just like me) but if you are craving more Saturday Sayings reflections- don't forget to check out my buddies!

Tammy

Lori

Sandra

Literacy Minute

Saturday Sayings

Welcome to my first edition of Saturday Sayings!  I am joining three other lovely bloggers for the whole month of April to bring you a saying every Saturday that might just make you pause, reflect and ponder!  Please check out my Saturday Sayings "possee" at their blogs for the full Saturday Sayings experience! :)

Tammy

  Lori 

  SandraLiteracy Minute  And now without further ado- my first! 

 

"He made a lot of mistakes but he made mistakes in a good direction.  I tried to emulate him but I realized it is very difficult to make good mistakes." - Goro Shimura 

You might not be familiar with Goro Shimura and actually I wasn't either- until last night.  I had a completely different quote planned for today but I felt like this one was speaking to me and so I changed it!   Goro Shimura is a mathematician and he is speaking about his friend and colleague Yutaka Taniyama.  The story goes that Taniyama, a mathematician, had a conjecture about a mathematical theorem but despite his best efforts could not prove that it was true.  Eventually he was so haunted by this conjecture that he killed himself.  The quote above is his friend reflecting on Taniyama's life.  I heard this while listening to a TED talk and it really struck me.  I began thinking about our students and the little thinkers that we help shape everyday.  How do we encourage risk taking and problem solving.  How do we let them know that it is a noble and righteous thing to make "good mistakes."  I have a group of third graders that REFUSE to make a mistake.  The panic and fear on their faces when I want them to "try and see" is both sad and disheartening to me.  I am a natural risk taker and a firm believer in learning from mistakes but how do I get nine year-olds to take that risk?  I don't have the answer- yet but I am committed to making sure my kiddos feel comfortable in our classroom that the consequences of a mistake don't seem as scary.

If you have some ideas about how to encourage "mistakes in the right direction" please leave me a comment!  If this quote speaks to you- please leave a comment!  Don't forget to check out the other Saturday Sayings!