Trying Something New
A few weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to experiment with some different clay. At the studio, there are bags of different clay types, all which have different qualities and some from specific purposes. I quite liked the look of this ruby clay but when I felt it, it was almost solid. I couldn’t see how you could possibly use it to make anything. Also, I had been chatting to another member of the studio and she was using a different type of clay and had mentioned how solid it was and the difficulties that she had had using it. With this in mind, and not really knowing the exact colour it was going to be after firing, I was just about to put it out of my mind and choose a clay I had already used.
The Question I Almost Didn't Ask
But, just at that moment, one of the technicians came around and I asked him about the clay. He then took the time to show me some of the clay and how, if you bash it on the floor a few times, it then becomes really soft and malleable. I was absolutely amazed! Without asking, I would never have known this and would have avoided using the clay.
Why children don't ask for help
One of the most common things that I hear parents say to me is that their child needs help but doesn’t ask their teacher. Now, there are lots of reasons why this might happen. Firstly, if they don’t feel comfortable with their teacher, then they are not going to want to ask questions. If they always feel like they can’t do maths, then they are not going to want to ask. Other times, they don’t want to ask because they are aware of the other students in their class and they feel stupid asking questions. With the clay that I was looking at, I actually felt that it was a really stupid question saying that it was really hard and that I was worried that I wouldn’t have the strength to roll it out – I had just assumed that everyone else was stronger than me! But actually, it wasn’t a silly question – it was that I didn’t know that some clays work in different ways and I discovered after using it and talking to other people, that they didn’t know it either!
You are probably not the only one
We always tend to assume that we are the only person who doesn’t know something when in fact, usually there are lots of us!
This is the same for learning maths. Often, the biggest barrier to learning isn’t the maths itself – it’s being brave enough to ask the question. Sometimes a simple explanation, a different way of looking at a problem or a few minutes of support can make all the difference. Just like with my ruby clay, asking for help opened up possibilities that I would never have discovered on my own.