Approximations - 0 views

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  #1 Bret Biornstad on 23 Jul 11

   

  Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
  
  Albert Einstein
  
  
  As my son Jamin starts high school, he has new privileges and expectations. While he no longer has a parent-enforced bedtime, he is required to make dinner twice a week. His first meal was going to be simple: burgers, fries and a salad.
  
  "Just ask if you want any help," I offered. Then I did my best not to rescue as the dinner preparations unfolded. Without my knowledge, he defrosted the salmon burgers. He knew that one defrosts burgers, so why wouldn't salmon burgers be the same?
  
  Once the falling apart salmon burgers were grilled, he toasted the buns. "Oh," he said, "these fries take 25 minutes in the oven. I guess I should've had those baking."
  
  Over an hour later we sat down to mangled salmon burgers on cold toasted buns with slightly underdone fries and a salad with big chunks of veggies. I could tell Jamin was surprised and a bit disappointed how it had all turned out.
  
  "How could you have known to grill the burgers frozen or to start the fries first because they take the longest? You learn those things by doing, by putting it all together. And look...no one got hurt and we're all eating," I reassured him.
  
  Jamin's experience got me thinking about being introduced to the word approximating in Brian Cambourne's Conditions of Learning. While it is used to describe optimum conditions for children's early literacy learning, I use it as a verb to describe a mandatory stage in any learner's process. We must approximate. We bring our early knowledge to a new situation and apply it. We make mistakes and correct them the next time. It's often an uncomfortable stage, but nonetheless necessary in our lives as learners. When we are approximating, we are risking and trying new things. But it also takes a willingness to at times have something we're responsible for be soggy, half-done, not perfectly timed. What are you willing to "approximate" this fall?
  
  This week we're focused on word work and study at all grade levels. Plus more as always - enjoy!
  
  
  Heather Rader
  Senior Editor, Choice Literacy

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. <br /> <br /> Albert Einstein <br /> <br /> <br /> As my son Jamin starts high school, he has new privileges and expectations. While he no longer has a parent-enforced bedtime, he is required to make dinner twice a week. His first meal was going to be simple: burgers, fries and a salad. <br /> <br /> "Just ask if you want any help," I offered. Then I did my best not to rescue as the dinner preparations unfolded. Without my knowledge, he defrosted the salmon burgers. He knew that one defrosts burgers, so why wouldn't salmon burgers be the same? <br /> <br /> Once the falling apart salmon burgers were grilled, he toasted the buns. "Oh," he said, "these fries take 25 minutes in the oven. I guess I should've had those baking." <br /> <br /> Over an hour later we sat down to mangled salmon burgers on cold toasted buns with slightly underdone fries and a salad with big chunks of veggies. I could tell Jamin was surprised and a bit disappointed how it had all turned out. <br /> <br /> "How could you have known to grill the burgers frozen or to start the fries first because they take the longest? You learn those things by doing, by putting it all together. And look...no one got hurt and we're all eating," I reassured him. <br /> <br /> Jamin's experience got me thinking about being introduced to the word approximating in Brian Cambourne's Conditions of Learning. While it is used to describe optimum conditions for children's early literacy learning, I use it as a verb to describe a mandatory stage in any learner's process. We must approximate. We bring our early knowledge to a new situation and apply it. We make mistakes and correct them the next time. It's often an uncomfortable stage, but nonetheless necessary in our lives as learners. When we are approximating, we are risking and trying new things. But it also takes a willingness to at times have something we're responsible for be soggy, half-done, not perfectly timed. What are you willing to "approximate" this fall? <br /> <br /> This week we're focused on word work and study at all grade levels. Plus more as always - enjoy! <br /> <br /> <br /> Heather Rader <br /> Senior Editor, Choice Literacy</div>

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