Not all learning is academic

OK, so maybe not necessarily the most equity sensitive video but I still get a chuckle when I watch it. Plus, if you sing along, you can change the words – when I’m alone in the car, I go with “sweet potatoes in my underwear”.

The bottom line is that many people who would normally be at work are now at home in charge of child care and stay-at-home education. I wonder if all the Mathematics will be unlearned as a result of good intentions over the next two or more weeks…

I don’t know about you but my reading timeline is just full of advice and stories about how to immediately go online with your teaching and being successful. Some come from people who have never been in a classroom ever or haven’t been there for many years. There are so many obstacles and so many experts.

I just want to share a success story here.

There’s this little guy who often hangs out at our place. Even though he’s only two towns over, he hasn’t been over for the past couple of weeks and it’s tough on everyone. Phone calls and Google Hangouts have had to suffice.

Now, he’s in kindergarten so that gives you a sense of age.

Yesterday, we got a video that was awesome and heartbreaking at the same time because we weren’t there to see it firsthand. One of the advantages these days, if you’re a kid, is that there are way fewer vehicles on the road. It was opportunity and he seized it.

So, this little guy, his dad, and his brothers used the opportunity to take the training wheels off his bike to give it a shot. While Mom stood there and videoed it, we got to see this big event. It was great!

Of course, there are two things about learning to riding a bike. Starting, and stopping.

Fortunately, Dad was there to catch him as he came to a stop. Expertise in that area of bike riding will come with experience but the big learning was being able to go without training wheels. He looked like a Level 4 doing that.