I recently had a conversation with a first year teacher that caused me to reflect on the value of struggle in learning. It isn't a new concept, but the balance of making a learning activity challenging but still attainable is a tricky slope. Some educators fall down the slope, trying so hard to make students struggle that they get caught up in trying to be the tough teacher, and then forget that it isn't about us. If an entire class does poorly on a test, that isn't a valuable struggle. It's poor test writing, didn't assess what was taught, or a combination of both. That slope is a tough one to master, but just like that gritty Russian grizzly cub in the YouTube video that went viral, we have to keep climbing.
#RocknTheBoat 