How To Video

After I watched a video about how to do a waterfall braid, I realize that it is very different to watch something being done and actually trying to do it yourself.  The resources for doing a waterfall braid were very easy to come up with but the actual execution of doing it was still extremely difficult.  With learning to braid, it doesn't necessarily take a lot of time to figure out what you are supposed to be doing but it takes a lot of practice and time to do it well.  The basic concept is easy to understand but the mastery of the braid is what takes a lot of repetition and practice.  Really the only type of feedback that could be given when trying to teach this is to encourage others to keep on practicing.  This relates to future teaching career because sometimes there will be lessons or concepts that will just take the students time to master.  This will require a lot of patience and understanding on the teacher's part to recognize that they understand the basic idea but the execution of the idea will take more time to develop.  I think it is so important to recognize this truth because we need to meet students where they are at, making sure that we don't continually reiterate concepts that they understand in a way that makes them feel like they are children, but also understanding when we need to slow down and give them more time to master a concept.  Therefore, from this exercise, I think that I learned that there is a major difference between understanding and mastery.  We need to make sure that we don't expect mastery of a skill just because our students seem to understand it.  It takes time to execute concepts and ideas properly.