Week 2 - Reflection

 Hello readers, 

I challenge you to think about what the definition of being good at something is?

Society has created standards for being good at something. These skills include school, sports, music, painting and so much more.   There is also standards that each individual holds themselves to, to be considered good at something. There is also standards that each persons environment offers to them. The thing about being good at something is there are always standards, that we are constantly trying to reach. 

As an educator, I think it is important to be able to help the students create their own definition of being good at something. In order to do this, they must be taught the skills necessary to do so. Some of these skills include creativity, problem solving, adaptability and many more. One important thing I think students need to learn to excel at a skill is to have the willingness to fail. This is something that is not taught, and not highlighted enough. There is such a negativity around making mistakes, and the way the school system is set up does not help with this. The way grades are given is that the more mistakes a student makes, the lower grade they receive. The lower the grade the less “good” the student is considered. This is a very poor way of thinking and can be clearly seen in the story of Micheal. 

Michael was a student who had a strong, natural cognitive process that developed and strengthened around his love of dinosaurs. Micheal was good at math, but according to his teachers he was not due to the fact he made some computational errors. Michael understood the applications and processes of the math. In his post secondary career, he developed some tools that advanced the medical field. 

How is it fair to say Micheal is not good at math? He has the base understanding and can apply his knowledge. The computational errors is something that with time and practice can be corrected. The application and processes are a huge step in math, and Micheal already had this skill. I think Micheal’s skills should have been highlighted rather than diminished, and educators could have taken the time to work towards the next step of learning from his computational errors. This is a mindset that I think educators need to take into their classroom. They need to take the curriculum and use it while also honouring the students skills they already posses.  

The other important skill that is required for being “good” at something is hard work. Nobody can be good at something if they do not practice it. There are some people who are born with a natural ability for certain skills. I believe this is one of the most important things to tell a student is related to a quote that got me through my sports career, and continues to get me through my educational career. The quote is ‘hard work beats talent, when talent does not want to work hard’. Yes, there will be people in the world that are more talented than an individual at something, but if the person works ten times harder than their peer, they will eventually surpass them in the skill. When someone is working hard, they also naturally develop the perseverance to go along with that. This practice has to be meaningful practice, one that challenges them in a positive way and further develops the skill being acquired. This is also a life skill that is important for students to learn. 

In the field of STEM, there may appear to be a difficulty to learn life skills, but there are many different computational thinking skills that can be learned and applied to real life situations. For example, students can develop their scientific process abilities. This includes the ability to develop a theory test it, and either reach a conclusion or try again. They are taught to try and try again, as well as learning from past theories that did not work. Educators need to foster an environment where these skills can be developed and explored without the fear of grades or being wrong. As previously discussed, one way to achieve this was through creating more problem based learning classes. This would allow students to test theories on a real life problem and develop their ideas. They would also be able to work as a collaborative group, and learn from each other, discuss and challenge and more. 

To be “good” at something is very subjective and each individual must create their own standards of good without comparing to others. Educators play an important role in aiding students to set their personal standards through both fostering the environment as well as allowing these skills to be developed.