Expecting the Unexpected

I recently developed a STEM challenge to tie in with Chinese New Year. The task asks students to create the longest dragon possible using red drink cups, while raising the dragon's long, wobbly body up off of the work surface. The hard part? No tape.

When another teacher wanted to do this challenge with her first graders, she was a little perplexed. "Just to clarify, nothing is holding the cups together?" she asked. After giving it some more thought, she wondered if using a different type of cup might be easier. And I totally get it. We want our kids to succeed and have fun. We want it to be hard, but not too hard.

But her questions made me rethink the challenge. I usually plan with grades 2 and 3 in mind, and try to anticipate any problems that might arise. I also consider whether modifications might be needed for younger or older students. Did I not think this through well enough?

Maybe a little tape was a good idea. Maybe this task was just beyond a first grader's abilities. Maybe younger students would give up in frustration -- or worse, tears! The only way to find out was to try it.

I'll admit, it was with no small amount of fear and trepidation that I entered a first grade classroom today with 8 stacks of cups, 8 measuring tapes, and 1 roll of masking tape (just in case!) Then I let the kids have a go.

They were brilliant! They collaborated. They cooperated. They tried and retried and then tried a few more times. They measured. They came up with new ideas. It was glorious. Oh, and you know what they didn't do? They didn't ask for tape!

See, here's the thing: when we present our kids with a problem to solve, they trust us and they believe that the problem CAN be solved. We may anticipate problems, but they anticipate success. And they're right! Because success is learning and thinking and doing. And with or without tape, THAT is going to happen! Expect it!