You check that when?

Like my students,

I sometimes need to hear things multiple times before they sink in.

If you share your favorite new dinner recipe with me,

I'll remember because it is something I will use. Even if the dish turns out to be not to my taste, the process of creating it will be locked in my mind.

However,

if you,

like my dearest father,

attempt to tell me which car fluid to check "hot" and which to check "cold"...

expect a phone call the first several times I attempt to apply the information.

Learning about things we know a great deal about is very different from trying to place stray new facts into a mind unfamiliar with the topic.

If someone told me to add a "dash" of salt or to keep an eye on the cookies because the baking time was a little iffy, I wouldn't even blink an eye at the suggestion.

However,

sadly,

I have absolutely no idea what it means to,

add a "little" fluid.

I suppose that is why in education,

I subscribe to some of Vygotsky's beliefs that talk about how social interaction helps children learn.

When I get new information,

I try to relate it to what I already know.

Have I ever seen that fluid being changed?

Have I heard it talked about?

Wheels turn...

I muse a little to myself...

Hmm...

I have seen those funny long funnels before...

So that's what they're for!

Looking under my car's hood.

I "see" my dad pointing at the reservoirs...

telling me what will happen if I fill them too full or not enough.

Why I should leave the break fluid cap completely alone...

With each word,

each gesture...

He also tells me he loves me.

When I gave him a hug at the end of the lesson,

I knew,

like my students do,

that if I get confused in the future,

I can ask again.

Learning can be a tricky thing.

Three cheers for good teachers.

Especially my dad!