Learning, Like the Movies, Should Have a Plot.

Photo 1 takes their elements photos, originally uploaded by elephantsgerald.

I briefly blogged about this yesterday, but today the New York Times serendipitously backed me up.

Failure evokes the emotional response most receptive to learning. Do you structure failure into your curriculum? I do. This I believe in so strongly I cannot emphasize it enough. This is exactly what I did today. Yesterday photo ones used their point and shoots for the first time with minimal instruction. Because they're sick of instruction, and don't want to listen. Totally understandable. Instead of me making them listen, they just take their photos. But they struggled, because we turned off the flash and it was dark.

Today they opened up the photo they liked the LEAST. "What's wrong with it?" I ask. BLURRY is the answer for most. I tell them "If you want, those can be the last blurry photos you ever take your whole life. Wanna know the secret?" YES, they are so READY to hear the answer.

I could have prevented everyone from making a mistake. That would look good when I showed it to others. But for the kids to experience the emotion of dissatisfaction, followed by overcoming that mistake and in the process really understanding the mechanics, not to mention having the tangible proof that they improved..that locks it into their minds forever, since it's tied to emotions. Failing and then triumphing evokes more emotion than just executing a task, and embeds it deeper in the mind. Learning should have a plot, like the movies, to be understood best.