Quotes

Lately I have been obsessed with quotes. I am not sure why. In the last few books I have been reading on my own there has been quotes weaved into the story. I think this started my obsession. It is not helping is that in our new read aloud All the Answers the main character Ava is collecting quotes.

We are only a few chapters in and already there have been five or six amazing quotes. One of the quotes that I keep kicking back and forth in my brain comes from Einstein--"Any fool can know. The point is to understand."

I love how this quote fits with the book. The main character Ava has a magic pencil that can give her all the answers, but Ava seems unsure about using it. Ava thinks that using the pencil might be cheating. I also think that Ava believes that using the pencil will not make help her know things it will just give her the answers. 

More and more I have been kicking around what Einstein's quote means to me as an educator. One of the projects on our menu board is to have students memorize a section of the Declaration of Independence. It is amazing to see some of our students memorize the portion of the Declaration and be able to recite it in front of the class. The words just flow and fill the room. The part of the Declaration they are memorizing is not short:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

I know I could not have memorized this when I was in fourth grade. 

This week we have been diving into this section of the Declaration. Trying to figure out not just what it says but what it means. Each day we look at the section I come back to Einstein's quote, "Any fool can know. The point is to understand." It is amazing that these students can recite this section but I believe it is more important for them to understand. These words hold such an important place in our country. "Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" is the blueprint for democracy. I want our students to understand the power of these words. 

I always want our students to understand not just know. That is not to say that knowing is not important. 

I am constantly amazed at what our students and teachers are doing in math. I will be honest math is not in my wheelhouse. Each week when I walk in Mrs. Sanford's room or see my wife's lesson plans or peak into rooms around the school, I am in awe of what these math teachers and students do. 

I love to go back to Einstein's quote when I think about what our students are doing in math. "Any fool can know. The point is to understand." More and more our students are being asked to explain their thinking. Do they really understand or do they just know? I think we see this the most in math. Our students seem to write just as much as they do in math class as they do with me in writing. 

Maybe the point of all that thinking is to make sure that the students understand. Sure it is of vital importance to know the times tables and certain rules but maybe like Einstein says it is just as important to understand those rules and time tables.

Hope you are having a great week.