"I hate the idea
that, when it comes to books and learning, hard is often seen as the opposite
of fun. It's strange to me that we should be so quick to give up on a
book or a math problem when we are so willing to grapple, for centuries if necessary,
with a single level of Angry Birds." John Green
This quote resonated with
me when I first came across it, and I thought it would make a good “signature”
quote for my outgoing email messages.
Within a few days, I also really began to think more deeply about
it. Why don’t we approach “hard” school learning
with that same persistence, zeal, and eagerness? Why is “hard” not "fun" when it
happens in school?
I don’t have the answer,
but I do have more questions. Is the “win”
in learning, which will stay with the student forever, seen as less valuable
than a fleeting satisfaction of achieving a level in a competitive game? Is it because
K-12 education is compulsory, and theoretically not a choice? Do we as teachers see our students as an audience
we hold captive, rather than an audience we could captivate?
And then, I try to see
what this kind of fun would look like. I
am picturing a student reading a very complex text, and after days of tackling
it, shouting “yes! I conquered it! I’ve
mastered that level, and I can’t wait to do the same to the next one!” Or another student remarking to friends, “I’m
addicted to story problems; I stay up late doing them because I can’t get
enough. The app is free – download it. I’ll show you some of the tricks to be
successful.” Far-fetched? A fantasy?
I hope not.
What do you think?
J. Walton
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