Thursday, January 31, 2013

Time is of the Essence

Process is everything in learning.  After all, anyone can find the answer to a given question with the click of mouse.  However, creating the answer to a problem, issue, or inquiry takes much more than searching.  It takes initiative, curiosity, persistence, and most importantly, time.  There will be varying degrees of success among our students this week, but the ones who will truly come out on top are those that used the time given to them to wring out every last drop of information they could find on their topic.

Yesterday, as the day was coming to a close, several students came to me asking to expand the Independent Project beyond the one week allotted for it.  I couldn’t offer them much, but I suggested they make their voices heard in the reflective activities planned for the end of the week.  Fortunately today, spring has come to Amenia.  The ski slopes are closed, and our students are being gifted with an extra day to make their projects that much better.

Some students are making the most of the extra time and already have ideas for improving their projects; others are stuck in an “I’m done” slump.  Regardless of those attitudes, the faculty is working hard to make sure students are pushing themselves to dig deeper and uncover more.  However, the real lesson to be learned today is that a question is never quite done being answered, regardless of how much time you think you have.

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