The Blind Men and the Elephant

Who says 7th graders don't like story time?

We are just finishing our first week back.  Teachers started on Monday and our new 7th graders started on Wednesday.  Our goals for this week were straight forward:

1. Creating an welcoming, safe and inquisitive atmosphere
2. Let the students know our expectations and how to take care of their needs
3. Establish lab safety rules
4. Introduce our students to the subject of Life Science
5. Encourage curiosity through scientific inquiry

We are already getting to apply our summer expedition in Thailand to our teaching.   I have shown the video Connie made to hook kids into the cool places science can lead you.  (I described our Earthwatch expedition as "Summer camp for grown ups".). After the video I briefly told them about our vision for the year and how they will get to choose a species that interest them to advocate for throughout the year.  What I love is that a bunch of kids have already started to research endangered species and are talking to me about what they want to do, or what the looked up last night.  Ladies and gentlemen 7th graders volunteering to do homework that was not assigned on the first night of school is an unheard of thing.  A great thing, but not something I expected. 

Today I also got unexpected results.  See, when I wrote the grant to Fund for Teachers, I referenced the Indonesian fable The Blind and the Elephant.  The story is about how each of the six blind men try to understand an elephant by only touching one part of it.  As a result they end up thinking an elephant is like a wall, a snake, a spear, a tree, a fan or a rope.  They each feel they are right in their perception but are puzzled about how they each touched the same animal but came to such different conclusions.  Eventually the prince explains that an elephant is very big and in order to really know what an elephant is like, you must put all of the parts together.  In my writing of the grant I talked about the disconnect science education and science professionals often feel.  

Today, though, I got to read the fable to my new students.  Not only did the listen with rapt attention, they actually applauded at the end of the story time.  When I finished I asked them "why do you think I chose to read you this right after I explained the scientific method?"  

Their answers were profound:

"To remind us to not only look closely at our work, but also to make sure we are paying attention to the big picture" 

"There are many different ways to observe things, not only our sight."

"The men followed the scientific method to learn more about the elephant, but not always in order" 

"Sometimes people argue when they analyze the data, and outside help is needed". 

"It is possible for there to be many correct answers that are still not right". 

"The men showed curiosity and persistence because they were interested in something" 

Lots of great thought, profound discoveries, and a nice way to see how my students minds work.