Sharing Your Own Learning With Students

Students need to be given the opportunity to take risks and to be creative.  Of course, when putting that expectation on students of making themselves vulnerable, shouldn’t we teachers do the same?

I do share with students when I’m trying something in class for the first time.  I encourage them to, “Let’s see how this goes.”  I also ask for feedback afterwards to better gauge the level of success.

Outside of school, I like to explore new things - my creative side. Below are some things I have created over the last year.  (I actually started creating mazes in high school but continue to explore new techniques.)

A wooden bowl I turned on a lathe under my father-in-law's tutelage.

Folded book art. I used a fairly beat up copy of HP and the Deathly Hallows.

Click on the image for a PDF you can print to try the maze.

I expose this side of myself to the students.  Sometimes, like with the mazes, I’ll show them how they can create their own.  I also expose to them the difference between a labyrinth and a maze.  Other times, like with the folded book, I disclose some of the struggle I went through in learning and doing the project - it took me about a year to figure out how to create the book efficiently and effectively.

I believe that sharing some of myself and my own learning engages my students on a more personal level and that it also gives me the opportunity to model the vulnerability I expect from them.  I hope that it encourages some to be a bit bolder in their appropriate risks, creativity, and persistence.

If you have experiences sharing your own learning process with students or if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share them in the comments. I would appreciate hearing about them.