This issue you've uncovered and focused on, I think, is one of the most central issues in education,

curriculum design and teaching. I've struggled, and continue to struggle, with this delicate balance and

"dance" of exploration and instruction every day. I don't have any pat answers, nor do I think there are

any;but I'll share my experience struggling with it...here 'goes...

I have scaffolded this issue from a number of directions over the years...I personally don't feel it

is an "either/or" proposition; at least from my experience. I agree that if students whom are introduced to a demo may "get farther", if "farther" is defined in a certain manner and, if "farther" is our goal. But, first we should determine what "farther" is and if it is always desirable.

I've found that a steady diet of direction at the outset of activities cripples students in other ways later on...in ways that traditional schools fail to measure, or seem to care about. Having the students try to apprehend something initially, and trying to comprehend it for themselves, constructing their own initial conceptualization to test in demonstration first to their friends and trusted peers...being allowed to look over one another's shoulder and "cheat" in this second stage of development is some of the best scaffolded learning I've ever seen in my classes.And all of it happened with little or no direction on my part.

I found that after a period of individual, "joyous exploration" and apprehension (in every sense of that

word!); and a period of peripheral and peer-scaffolded "testing"; my students felt that their personal "take"

on the challenge was honored (as divergent as it may have been) and, that they then had more confidence in

their ability to explicitly exhibit that understanding with a "public" performance of their"take" to the class. In fact, many of my students would crack into the operating systems of the computers when they needed to; and I'm at a loss to even begin to explain to them how to accomplish THAT feat.(Alan usually came in and hired THOSE kids from

my class! ha ha)

Over the last two decades, hundreds of my students have gone on into professions in the arts, animation, media and software and hardware design. And, the ones that moved into the creative aspects of these fields all have credited this initial period of "messin' about" with a concept or a "tool", with their professional confidence in muddling thru frustrating challenges. (Martha Stone Wiske and David Perkins write about this process in their book, TEACHING FOR UNDERSTANDING; as does Alfred North Whitehead in his book THE AIMS OF EDUCATION, he calls this "the stage

of romance").

I am not so "Pollyanna" as to think that every child must muddle thru every process from the get-go...but, I think we should be careful not to excise some healthy anxiety from the learning equation too quickly and too often. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi writes quite convincingly and eloquently about the delicate balance between anxiety and the growth of ability and self-efficacy (his books FLOW; CREATIVITY; and TALENTED TEENAGERS are quite provocative on this matter).

The teacher's timely interventions and scaffolding of each students journey into understanding of more complex challenges is the musicianship and artistry of teaching; when to "teach" and when to question, challenge and support. I've tried for my entire career to design ME (the teacher) out of as much of this process as is possible. To design experiences that engage students at an access point they feel comfortable with almost immediately...but, not a dumbed down curricular task...but, a challenge that quickly leads them into self-empowerment and complexity appropriate to their interest and ability level at any given point. This is the never-ending challenge that drives me every day.

I presently co-direct a Virtual Distance Animation program called ACME that utilizes this approach with H.S. and University students across the nation...it is a derlicate balance every telecast...AND, we've added to the mix bi-weekly interventions and critique and challenges from professionals in the field...when a student, a teacher and a class think that they've "got it" they can "up the ante" and show it to a professional in the field. We call this "who sez?".This "social validation process" exists in the real world; and I believe it is crucial for the development of not only the students, but quite possibly more enlightenening for we teachers, to engage in this "dance" of reconciliation and critque.(Again, Csikszentmihalyi's book CREATIVITY really gets into this delicate, but real, social "dance").

If I hadn't opened my classroom doors and my curriculum to field professional critque my strategies and personal understanding would have grown at a snails pace. Frank Thomas, Chuck Jones and Bill Scott helped me become a bridge to the future for my students. But, professional intervention can become mere training in technique if we don't watch out for balance between personal expression and principled instruction...a question of insightful design,timely intervention and teacher "musicianship" and ongoing reflection about our own practice, focused on student evidence and performance...and, finally a dash, or whatever you can get, of "who sez?"

I think one of the many great experiments that "Squeak" may launch many of us into is just such reflections, observations, dialogue and collections of anecdotal evidence...hopefully some patterns may emerge...what a great journey it will be!

The experiences I've had with 9th and 10th graders using Squeak this past school year. I've had to blend

in the Squeak experiences with the regular day to day classroom activities, which means that most of the time I was not given the opportunity of showing a demonstration first. What I've found is that there is great power in

ownership and then presentation to peers and professionals. Squeak gives them ownership and squeakland.org will be one source of presentation.

The level of creativity, professionalism, and pride was astounding when the students knew that they were going to be acknowledged and peer reviewed. And as much as I'd like to take credit for this, I had very little to do

with it other than being a source of input and support when needed.