I had a strange thing happen in my Enrichment class last week that really opened my eyes. I asked the students for feedback on the project we just completed. As I was looking through the print outs, I noticed one student typed "no structure". I decided to pull him aside to ask what he meant by this comment.
The project was a personal budget, where teams of students were assigned a career and a salary. They were to develop a budget in Excel that included researching online for a house and car. They also had required expenses (electric, water, etc) and optional expenses (social, dining out, etc) to choose from. Their goal was to use their money wisely and save money. Each month, the teams were given a scenario where they had to alter the budget (adding or removing items) and manage their money wisely.
I asked the student if his comment was positive or negative. He said both. He said that he liked the freedom but wished he was told what do to a little more. I said that the point of this class is to problem solve and discover. I mentioned that I felt students these days are fed too many answers and need to be able to think on their own. He paused and then agreed.
It dawned on me that this is one of the key issues with students today; they all want to be told the answers. They want that instant gratification that comes along with texting, the Internet and video games. Unfortunately, I think teachers give in too much on this aspect. We need to make these students discover and learn from their mistakes. After all, that is what is instrumental in personal growth and learning.
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