Willy Wood is an educational consultant for Open Mind Technologies, Inc. in Columbia, MO. At willywoodteaching.com, Willy Wood discusses developments in learning research that are applicable for teachers.

1. Willy Wood
Teachers Must Sometimes Let
Students Learn on Their Own

2. Introduction
 Willy Wood is an educational consultant for Open
Mind Technologies, Inc. in Columbia, MO. At
willywoodteaching.com, Willy Wood discusses
developments in learning research that are
applicable for teachers.
In an article titled The Value of (Strategically)
Letting Students Struggle, Mr. Wood discusses
the pros of guided teaching methods, such as
“scaffolding” instruction, as opposed to the harm
that can be done when the instructor over-
teaches.

3. Learning
 A teacher’s innate desire to help a student learn
can lead to the exact opposite of what was
intended if the child does not make the necessary
connections in his or her mind. When students
become too dependent on their teachers, they
reach a state of “learned helplessness” where
they can’t function without the teacher’s
assistance.
Thus it is imperative that the educator discovers
that fine line between just enough and not too
much. Students must learn to toil with ideas and
concepts and eventually think things through for
themselves if they are ever to reach a point of
real knowledge.