Last summer I decided to learn to do Sudoku.
It was hard.
I just couldn't get it.
Despite the temptation to just give it up, I contemplated on this action a bit.
Do I tell my students to "just forget about it" when faced with difficult tasks?
Do we say to kids, "don't bother if it's frustrating" as they are attempting to read?
No, we break it down into little steps.
We find what a student CAN do, and proceed from there.
It was apparent that I needed systematic instruction.
I needed a book.
I found one that explained how to work a Sudoku puzzle, step-by-step.
I did a little bit each day.
By the end of the summer, I was doing pretty well.
By December, I was bored by my newspaper Sudoku.
They were too easy!
I got myself a daily Sudoku calendar.
These were definitely harder.
A few weeks ago I ran into a brick wall.
I was having a run at Sudoku failure.
I lost my groove!
"Okay," I told myself.
"I'll just do one a day.
If I can't get it by the end of the day,
I will ditch it and try the next one the next day."
It worked!
Sudoku has reminded me of the importance of perserverance,
of taking baby steps, and
the fact that improvement is not linear.
Backslides are sure to occur.
HANG IN THERE!
