I’ve always been a fan of mysteries, but while most people gravitated towards the adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) or the mysterious elements of a John Grisham novel, I’ve always found Encyclopedia Brown to be my favorite. Maybe it was because he was the smartest 4th grader I knew or maybe it was because Sally Kimball, his business partner, was so awesome. I mean, even Bugs Meany was in awe of her… but I digress. I was always fascinated with how Encyclopedia solved the mystery of the day using the totally innocuous clues that were provided. A few years ago, I found an old Encyclopedia Brown book in a bargain basement bookstore and dutifully brought it home so my, at the time 9-year-old, daughter and I could start reading it together. Quickly, it became apparent that even though my daughter was intrigued by the story; she didn’t want to try and figure out the solution. Rather, she wanted to immediately go to the back of the book for the answer. No struggle, no deep contemplation or evaluation, no discussion about how this clue might provide insight… just a quick “turn to page 84 for the answer.”

My teacher peers know exactly what I am talking about when I say it feels as if our current generation of students seem to have lost the art of “figuring it out.” Of course, I am perhaps guilty of contributing to what I call the “spoon-fed” educational system of today. For a variety of reasons, whether increased class sizes, higher emphasis on testing, or merely being too burdened with the plethora of classroom responsibilities, I have often allowed myself to fall into the trap of quickly providing an answer. In doing so, I believe I have handicapped my student’s “figure it out” abilities and, in essence, created an environment where I am now the sole provider of resources and information. In the enlightened instance that I tell my students they will need to figure out the solution for themselves, I get a version of the following: blank stare, panicked look, incredulity, or even dagger eyes. In many cases, I get the deep sigh that I would dare insinuate that they should be burdened with the responsibility of answering the question or solving the problem for themselves. Often their confused, hurt, or angry expressions scream to the deepest part of me because I want to give them the answer. I am a teacher, after all. Isn’t that what I do? I teach? I instruct? I tell myself that I know that the most growth happens when muscles have to stretch and that trials are the true teachers in life. Sometimes it is just easier to give in and tell them, while other times I hold out and force them to strain in their quest for knowledge. Regardless, I am fighting for something more important.

You see, I constantly worry about the art of “figuring it out” because I believe our generation has lost the ability to troubleshoot, e.g., figure out solutions by systematically evaluating how to make something work. I personally love to troubleshoot and figure out a problem. One of the things I love about being a part of Neuse News is that our publisher, BJ Murphy, expects that his staff come up with solutions to problems, which are a daily part of being a fledgling news organization that has big dreams. An example of this has been the challenges associated with livestreaming different events.  Most of the time, I feel I have no clue what I am doing but, by golly, I am going to figure it out so that I can help provide the best product to the public I can. Doing so excites me and keeps me sharp… as well as bald (but I can’t fight genetics) and I feel that my contribution to the process is valued and I take pride in the fact that I “figured it out.” 

So... back to Encyclopedia Brown and my daughter’s introduction to this canny 4th grader. Throughout the past few years, I have slowly been trying to teach her how to evaluate the clues in the story and make guesses to what she thinks the solution might be. Often she is wrong, heck, most of the time I am wrong… that Encyclopedia is a really smart dude; however, the intentional process of trying to “figure it out” is what I feel is the most important skill that I am trying to teach my daughter. In my opinion, it is one of the best gifts we can give to our kids, to their teachers, and to society. The “Case of the Can’t Figure it Outs” should never be from lack of trying or motivation. Instead, we should all promote the view of, “I don’t understand this right now, but I’m going to do what it takes to learn it and figure it out.” That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

Now… turn to page 96 for the solution to the case of the “Case of the Can’t Figure it Outs”... or is this one of those “choose your own adventure books?” Those were some of my favorites as well… although I never quite made the right choice the first time around. Thankfully, there was always a redo.