How Do Your Students Respond To Challenges?

It's important to encourage your students to step out of their comfort zone and try new things. For the younger crowd, when much of life is new and there are so many skills yet to be learned, trying new things might not be such a stretch. In fact, you might be surprised to find that your kiddos embrace new experiences with enthusiasm and a curious mind all set to problem solve. For the older set, you might find more hesitancy than enthusiasm, more questions than an instinct to just dive right in. Either way, there's a lot to be learned, about oneself and about the process of problem solving, when trying new things!

A few words of wisdom for students when learning something new;

• Consider a time you did something similar. Are there any skills that transfer to this new situation?
• Do you know someone who has done this task? Ask them for advice or to teach you.
• Collaborate. You've heard it said, "Two heads are better than one". Observing others and sharing ideas encourages learning for both parties!
• Simply try something. Did it work? If the answer is no, try something else.

We found this awesome post over at Brick by Brick and thought Scott did a great job bringing this point home! Be sure to head on over at check out how his students responded to using chopsticks in the math center!