The Power of Perplexity

With 2 weeks of the new school year already complete, I already find myself trying to catch up with the lesson planning/grading for tomorrow's lesson!  Taking advice from Liz's previous post, I decided to take a minute to breathe.  However, during my short break (in the midst of my half graded papers), I stumbled across a quote that I hope to use to frame my goals for this year.  I have John Dewey to credit for these insightful words:

"The best, indeed the only preparation [for learning] is arousal to a perception of something that needs explanation, something unexpected, puzzling, peculiar. When the feeling of a genuine perplexity lays hold of any mind (no matter how the feeling arises), that mind is alert and inquiring. "

For some reason, the "scrambling" sensation I get when trying to revise a lesson that just doesn't seem right was put at ease when I realized what advice John Dewey was imparting.  As long as I try to introduce scenarios (no matter how big or small) that will spark a question or moment of curiosity within my students, I will have benefitted my students for the day! Even if this moment lasts just a few seconds, it could be the catalyst for a question, a reason for my students to stay engaged or collaborate with others in hopes of finding an answer.  I think one of the main reasons I find teaching so fun is that I never quite know exactly when, why, or how these moments of perplexity will take place. I can envision random sparks in different colors firing off throughout my classroom, representative of unique moments of perplexity for each student.


Perplexity can be scary; the fear of the unknown definitely intimidates me as a teacher.  However, I strongly believe these fears can quickly be replaced with excitement and anticipation if I take the time to celebrate my students' moments of perplexity.  My goals for this year include allowing my students opportunities to pursue and resolve their moments of perplexity with collaborative investigation. With the strength and encouragement of our classroom communities, I am confident my students will find joy in "not knowing" because of the journey they will take "to discover".