Educator
Last week Tom invited me to speak to his 7th grade classes about my experiences in Ukraine. His students are learning about Eastern Europe in history currently, and Tom wanted to provide some flavor to the lessons in the text, as well as give the kids an opportunity to ask questions about things of particular interest to them. I quickly agreed to his invitation, and today spoke to his class.
I graduated from the elementary school at which Tom teaches in 1988, and I don't think I've been back inside since 1990. The building has changed an awful lot since I was a student, and it was a real treat to walk through the halls comparing my memory to the current construction. I hated going to school there, though looking back, of course, I value very highly the education I received.
I knew the students wouldn't be satisfied with a long, boring lecture, and I knew that I wasn't qualified to give such a lecture, anyway, so I selected a few photos from our trip as examples of items to discuss that I felt the kids would understand and find interesting. The cultural tradition of the Ukrainian wedding, along with traditional Ukrainian clothing, were all well received by the kids, and they asked a few questions. They were most interested, of course, in the examples of Ukrainian traffic and the creative driving practices that are so common there. The kids asked some surprisingly insightful questions about the nature and depth of corruption when I explained why Ukrainians drive the way they do. An example of Ukrainian tap water was also cause for much disucssion.
It was only a cursory introduction to some of the cultural and lifestyle differences between the U.S. and Ukraine, but I think the kids really did find it useful and interesting. I know I felt that the experience was enlightening, and I can see why Tom has been so satisfied as an educator. Seeing him handle the class was also a treat for me, and it's clear that he's very good at his job. Teaching is a tough vocation, and I greatly admire those with the fortitude and discipline to do it.
Homework
I helped Tayler work on her science homework tonight. It was a very eye-opening experience.
The assignment was to read about the rotation of the earth around the sun and to answer a few simple questions. I took it upon myself to try to encourage additional problem-solving skills and asked Tayler to answer a few questions of my own.
"Tayler, if the earth rotates around its axis once every day, and if the moon rotates around the earth once every month, how many times does the earth rotate around the sun every year?" She tried valiantly to make up a number of answers that she thought might fool me. I stuck with it, though, confident that should could figure out the answer based on the information provided to her in the question. I eventually had to explain this last bit to her, and finally after repeating the question several times I saw the light bulb go off in her head. "One!" she exclaimed proudly.
The next portion of her assignment was to describe the solstice and equinox. Both terms were mentioned in the book, but only the equinox was explained as a function of the earth's angle toward the sun. I again challenged her to think beyond the assignment by asking her to explain to me the solstice in relation to the equinox. "Using only the information you know about the equinox, what can you tell me about the solstice?" This was too opaque a question for her to deduce, so I had to rephrase it several times. "If the equinox is caused by the earth having very little angle to the sun, what can you tell me about the cause of the solstice?" We were interrupted by a bout of infectious giggles, which helped a lot to keep Tayler from getting overly frustrated. Eventually, after a lot of repetition, Tayler was finally able to explain that the solstice was when the earth had the most angle to the sun.
I explained to Tayler that I was challenging her on purpose, to help her develop her critical thinking skills. It's important to me that the kids learn how to approach problems with a thoughtful eye, and to evaluate the information available to them as they formulate their answers. It's surprising how much of this I do on my own without thinking about it; and it's extremely challenging to explain it to the kids in a way that makes sense to them.
I need to devise some more kid-friendly scientific processes to help encourage critical thinking in fun, low-stress environments.
Tourist Season
Fall Quarter starts soon at OSU. In the weeks leading up to the start of classes, students slowly start trickling back onto campus. Since most freshmen start during Fall, we'll soon see a large influx of first-year students.
A lot of them are walking around campus even now, usually with their parents. Not infrequently people will approach me asking for directions. When I see someone studying a campus map, I'll ask them if I can help. Most of them are looking for the same couple of buildings. I like to think that maybe I've made someone feel more comfortable on campus, or more at ease as they face the uncertainty of college.
What I find most interesting is that it is invariably the parents holding the map, trying to reconnoiter the campus. Their children usually stand near them, slackjawed. I would think that the students would be interested in learning the campus for themselves.
The week before I started classes at OSU, I wandered all throughout the campus. I got a feel for the various sections on campus (hard sciences to the north, medical center at the south, humanities in the middle, arts to the east), and learned the major landmarks. I figured out where many of the coffee shops, sandwich shops, and hot dog carts were located, as well as a variety of vending machines. I felt well prepared for life on campus, and confident that I could navigate what is, essentially, a small city within the city of Columbus on my own.
