What students can learn from babies

I hear the complaint often, even from my own mouth: "I wish my students wouldn't act like such babies!" What we mean by this is "I wish they wouldn't whine and cry and gripe and act as if the universe revolves around their every little need!"

But in some ways, I wish my students would act more like babies. I realized this the other day as I watched my adorable granddaughter lunge toward her mother's shoe.

Baby push-ups strengthen those arms so they can reach!

It's nothing at all special--just an ordinary walking shoe--but baby E was fascinated by the criss-cross patterns of blue lines. She's not particularly mobile but she just kept lunging toward that shoe, reaching with her whole body as if that shoe held the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. (And it's not even a 42.) I admired her persistence: the shoe was just out of her reach and her arm control is still in Beta testing, but nothing was going to stop her from reaching out to satisfy her curiosity.

I wish more of my students would practice that kind of curiosity about how the world works, and I wish more of them would demonstrate that kind of persistence. Focus on the object of curiosity and lunge toward it with everything you've got! And if it's still out of reach, keep reaching! Go on--be a baby!

Just don't come crying to me with your dirty diapers!