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".

Be kind, “unwind”…

As we embark on a new school year, I am filled with a delightful sense of anticipation. Yes, I love returning to school. New school supplies, a new class, teaching a subject I love, with colleagues I admire and respect. I’m one of the lucky ones.  While the summer brings with it a welcome break and a time for relaxation, I wonder how many of us really do take the time to relax, unwind and recharge our batteries.  One of the things I used to enjoy over the summer was watching movies with my daughters when they were home.  “You’ve Got Mail” was a particular favorite. The Tom Hanks character utters a phrase, which  my girls used to tease me with.     

“Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”- Nora Ephron 

Once that first flush of enthusiasm has gone, the pencils need resharpening, the school supplies are no longer new, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and tired. Starting the school day so early should be outlawed, but that is a whole different blog post. How can we maintain that just back to school feeling? 

One summer my oldest daughter introduced me to the “IT Crowd”, a British comedy about the technical support workers in a large corporation. I must stress this is NOT a reflection of our IT department, but this clip amused me and seems appropriate now. The answer given to fixing a malfunctioning device was invariably the same "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

This doesn’t just apply to electronic devices. Occasionally we all need to follow this advice. So, as the school year is under way, let’s all remember to do this, turn off, unplug, rewind, recharge- whatever. Life is not about the destination, but about the moments that make up the journey.

As the year gets underway, my promise to myself is to take some of those moments to switch off.  It doesn’t have to be much- just lunch away from my desk, a break at the weekend. How can I help my students recognize their need to do this? Maybe by modeling this behavior, by not assigning a homework when they expect one.  Together, we can work it out. 

Roll on the 2015-2016 school year,  I’m raring to go!