I installed a new kitchen faucet the other day in my house all by myself. I'm sure that my wife is tired of me bragging about this "do it yourself" project, and some of you may even wonder why this is a big deal. Well you have to understand, I am usually horrible when it comes to home improvement stuff. I get easily frustrated, or get stuck at the easiest of steps, or have to call in help from someone with "handy-man" experience, or do things wrong and have to start all over (sometimes a combination of all four). Usually I doubt myself before I even begin. So when we decided to finally purchase a new faucet, I couldn't sleep the night before I was going to install it! Now it wasn't a Jessie Spano hyperventilation because she got a "B"...but it was pretty close.
After 3 hours (hey I'm not Ty Pennington!), I was done and I have to admit that I did a little happy dance in the living room when water came out with no leaks. I had this incredible sense of pride that I was able to accomplish something that normally, I fail at. My wife has always believed in and encouraged me, but I had to see for myself that I could do it! It reminded me of Kelly's struggles with science on Saved By the Bell. She turned to Screech for tutoring help and after some Barbie and popcorn demonstrations and some late-night sessions with Kevin the Robot, Kelly understood the material and passed her next test. You could literally see the thrill in her eyes when she knew the answers to Screech's questions about radio activity. I felt the same way with my kitchen faucet.
This, in turn, made me think of my students. As a history teacher, I see plenty of frustration at students who have a hard time with memorization, or essay writing, or test-taking. I'm sure teachers of other subjects can relate. I've been wondering if I give students opportunities to have their "kitchen faucet" moments. Too often I encourage them with only words. What if I gave them a makeup or modified test, or daily practice questions to prepare in advance, or talked through an essay with them before they wrote one? What if we play a review game where students can actually see for themselves that they can memorize the amendments to the Constitution or the chronological order of events in China's history? This is going to sound obvious, but students are inspired the most when they see results. Discouraged and frustrated students are usually those who have struggled before and are quick to give up and not try.
I know some teachers are hesitant to make things too easy for students. We have a natural tendency to want to push our students, challenge them, set high goals and have them go out and reach them. My suggestion is that we create small milestones along the way that students can reach, realize their potential, avoid making excuses, and push on towards the bigger goals we have for them.
