My daughters love to think about things and ask lots of questions. When they were young, they would pepper my husband and me with every question imaginable. Occasionally, we did not have the answer, so we had to go to use Google to help them find an answer to their question. When they were six, one had a research project over Asian elephants, and one had a project over giraffes. We showed them how to use Google and various internet resources to find information for their projects. We laid the groundwork for teaching them search terms and how to find good information online.
When they were 10, they got cell phones and a computer of their own to share. This gave them their own internet access. When they asked me questions, if I did not have an answer I would say, “I don’t know, but you know who does? Google.” Then their questions changed from “what do you know about this,” or “how do I do that” to, “what would be the best term to use to get information about something?”
Now, at 14, my daughters are fully capable to finding information on their own about anything they have a question about. Last night, I walked in the kitchen to find one daughter making a coconut cream pie with piped meringue and she was mixing up food color as paint to paint the meringue. I woke up this morning to find my other daughter had decided to make a red velvet cake from scratch since we did not have any cake mix and she felt like making a cake. She made it gluten free so her dad could eat it and she made fresh strawberry icing for it, too. Where did they learn to do all of this? Google.
Of course, baking is a fun activity, and most kids can find information about their likes and hobbies. So, what about what they learn in school. What happens when they are working on a science or history project and they have a question. They do the exact same thing they do when they want to find a recipe: they go to Google.
One of my daughters is taking World History. They have been discussing the Mongols in her class, but they did not go in depth and she had questions. She went to Google. After she got her questions answered, she shared interesting information she found with me which started a conversation that developed more questions. She got a deeper understanding from discussing her learning. Learning she directed based on her initial questions.
I want my students to be able to learn like this. I want them to have questions, then have the skills to find the answers on their own.
Many teachers, when a student does not know how to do something, just show the student how to get the answer. I am guilty of this myself. If the student wants the answer, show them. This does not set the student up for lifelong learning, though. This sets the student up to know that the teacher is the only source of information and there is only one way to answer a question.
Many students expect this behavior from teachers; they ask a question, and the teachers give them the answer. They have not built the grit to persevere and find the answer on their own. They expect learning to be spoon-fed to them.
This lack of grit does not prepare them for the future. In school, there is always a content expert. But in real life there is not. If you have a question or need to learn something you must seek the knowledge on your own and find your own answers. Students need to be prepared for this.
There is a behavior that we teachers exhibit that needs to change, and a vital behavior we need to adopt, to prepare our students to be lifelong learners.
When a student struggles, do not show them how to answer the one question, show them how to find information so they can answer all their questions.
There’s a saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” I would like to see us teach the students to learn so they have knowledge for a lifetime.
Why – Students need to be prepared to be lifelong learners.
How – Do not give them a fish. Teach them to fish. (Do not give them the answer. Teach them how to learn.)
What – Students will be prepared to find knowledge for the rest of their lives.
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