Students often become more independent not when every difficulty is removed, but when they repeatedly experience manageable moments of uncertainty where they still have to initiate, decide, try, adjust, and keep moving.
Excellent piece. I work with Lotus Eaters as well. A clear starting point is absolutely key. Three steps to start is how I phrase it. Three specific items to do and, depending on the task, a timer to force them to get moving. Once those three are accomplished they’re off on their own to complete the rest of the project or written piece. Troublingly, too often my Lotus Eaters are drawn by the Siren Song of AI towards the Charybdis of plagiarism and the Scylla of academic lethargy.
I do agree with you in that we too often blame the phone or the screen for the modern apathetic classroom mood. As teachers we have to adapt. As with an ER we don’t get to select our students nor the condition that they arrive in our classroom. Our practice can and must change. Still, we only have 6 hours to grab their interest and deepen their academic skills. After that, the honey sweet lotus of the screen and the digital world is in ample supply. Odysseus could chain his men and leave the island behind. Our odyssey as educators is one where we are the island and the world outside our classroom is entirely filled with lotus trees and their honey sweet elixir of indifference and idleness.
Great article. School should be more like trying to learn to ride a bike. You want to pursue it because you want to keep up but the only way to learn is to get on and try. Yes, you will crash but get back up and do it again. That’s how we learn to talk and walk. Why not apply it to classes. Given the same tools and materials shop kids build drastically different things. Students should be able to answer questions that way. I ask tell my students there is no perfect answer in my environmental science class. If there was there would not be so many debates on the topic. So I ask them to explain their understanding and point of view.
Thanks for the kind words. And honestly, I find a vein of Lotus eaters in all my classes, from standard to AP. I also feel myself tugged, from years of PD messaging, and probably being a parent, to step in when they're struggling. The act and choice to let them sit with difficulty is pulling them back to the ship of our world.
Dang I knew what you were referencing as soon as I saw the title. I wish I had made that connection before. There’s too many ways for students to avoid taking any responsibility or challenges in today’s education. I like your classroom level practices. But something needs to happen at school or district levels too.
Ha! I thought of it while literally driving to work one day. Certainly had not thought about the Lotus-eaters for decades before then.
Totally agree that something needs to happen at the school and district level, but that's, unfortunately, where you find the least number of teachers, and therefore, the least understanding of what we're seeing in the classrooms. Until teachers have seats at the table of setting policy and direction, things will muddle on in the same direction they've been muddling.
Amen! I’d argue that creating a sense of agency or initiative has become one of our most important jobs as educators.
I’ve never read the Odyssey through that lens, but that is a great point of reference.
I’ve tried: “annotate the problem”, “I’ll only support when you have a wrong answer” (a few try something way off base, but I say they can do better), “call me over when you have old notes in front of you” and some version of “ask three and then me.”
I also have a catalog of math problems from competitions that look foreboding but crack with a little tinkering. In Pre-Calc, I’ll give them a definition from Set Theory and ask them to apply it cold. Anything to teach them that math yields to a little courage and creativity.
Well hey - I'm always a "the book's better" kinda guy, but the movie version of The Odyssey is coming out this summer, so there's that. :)
I do just about all the same - I work to develop a solid relationship with my students so I can say, "Are you treating me like you're notebook because you're just too lazy to open it up?" and not have it turn into a firefight.
Well said! I work in outdoor ed, and see the struggle of balancing accommodations/friction all the time. Sometimes, you have to let the kids walk an hour in the wrong direction and let them know it was okay to do it wrong, and they are capable of trying again. That ultimate sense of empowerment that comes when students realize they are able to get through challenges is one of the best parts of my job!
100%! It sounds so weird to say (or write), but some of the best times in my room are when I can see my students visibly struggling with an idea or a problem. I love it when they leave tired because - as I point out - their brains were working and using a lot of energy.
Super frustrating that something like this - "the obstacle is the way" - has gotten pushed aside or worse, seen as a misguided approach to the work.
Students often become more independent not when every difficulty is removed, but when they repeatedly experience manageable moments of uncertainty where they still have to initiate, decide, try, adjust, and keep moving.
100%.
Excellent piece. I work with Lotus Eaters as well. A clear starting point is absolutely key. Three steps to start is how I phrase it. Three specific items to do and, depending on the task, a timer to force them to get moving. Once those three are accomplished they’re off on their own to complete the rest of the project or written piece. Troublingly, too often my Lotus Eaters are drawn by the Siren Song of AI towards the Charybdis of plagiarism and the Scylla of academic lethargy.
I do agree with you in that we too often blame the phone or the screen for the modern apathetic classroom mood. As teachers we have to adapt. As with an ER we don’t get to select our students nor the condition that they arrive in our classroom. Our practice can and must change. Still, we only have 6 hours to grab their interest and deepen their academic skills. After that, the honey sweet lotus of the screen and the digital world is in ample supply. Odysseus could chain his men and leave the island behind. Our odyssey as educators is one where we are the island and the world outside our classroom is entirely filled with lotus trees and their honey sweet elixir of indifference and idleness.
Great article. School should be more like trying to learn to ride a bike. You want to pursue it because you want to keep up but the only way to learn is to get on and try. Yes, you will crash but get back up and do it again. That’s how we learn to talk and walk. Why not apply it to classes. Given the same tools and materials shop kids build drastically different things. Students should be able to answer questions that way. I ask tell my students there is no perfect answer in my environmental science class. If there was there would not be so many debates on the topic. So I ask them to explain their understanding and point of view.
The lotus eaters plague the general core classes.
Thanks for the kind words. And honestly, I find a vein of Lotus eaters in all my classes, from standard to AP. I also feel myself tugged, from years of PD messaging, and probably being a parent, to step in when they're struggling. The act and choice to let them sit with difficulty is pulling them back to the ship of our world.
Love the analogy! The Lotus Eaters…I feel a lesson plan to begin the year formulating with this story and some excerpts from your piece.
Lesson plan, smesshon plan - go for PD! :)
Dang I knew what you were referencing as soon as I saw the title. I wish I had made that connection before. There’s too many ways for students to avoid taking any responsibility or challenges in today’s education. I like your classroom level practices. But something needs to happen at school or district levels too.
Ha! I thought of it while literally driving to work one day. Certainly had not thought about the Lotus-eaters for decades before then.
Totally agree that something needs to happen at the school and district level, but that's, unfortunately, where you find the least number of teachers, and therefore, the least understanding of what we're seeing in the classrooms. Until teachers have seats at the table of setting policy and direction, things will muddle on in the same direction they've been muddling.
Amen! I’d argue that creating a sense of agency or initiative has become one of our most important jobs as educators.
I’ve never read the Odyssey through that lens, but that is a great point of reference.
I’ve tried: “annotate the problem”, “I’ll only support when you have a wrong answer” (a few try something way off base, but I say they can do better), “call me over when you have old notes in front of you” and some version of “ask three and then me.”
I also have a catalog of math problems from competitions that look foreboding but crack with a little tinkering. In Pre-Calc, I’ll give them a definition from Set Theory and ask them to apply it cold. Anything to teach them that math yields to a little courage and creativity.
Well hey - I'm always a "the book's better" kinda guy, but the movie version of The Odyssey is coming out this summer, so there's that. :)
I do just about all the same - I work to develop a solid relationship with my students so I can say, "Are you treating me like you're notebook because you're just too lazy to open it up?" and not have it turn into a firefight.
Well said! I work in outdoor ed, and see the struggle of balancing accommodations/friction all the time. Sometimes, you have to let the kids walk an hour in the wrong direction and let them know it was okay to do it wrong, and they are capable of trying again. That ultimate sense of empowerment that comes when students realize they are able to get through challenges is one of the best parts of my job!
100%! It sounds so weird to say (or write), but some of the best times in my room are when I can see my students visibly struggling with an idea or a problem. I love it when they leave tired because - as I point out - their brains were working and using a lot of energy.
Super frustrating that something like this - "the obstacle is the way" - has gotten pushed aside or worse, seen as a misguided approach to the work.