Molly

I'm Molly and I'm Matthew and we're from Spilled Milk, a comedy show about food, things like grilled cheese or figs.

But usually it winds up being about like making out, but not with each other and eating too many M&Ms and playing a game involving flaming raisins.

New episodes of Spilled Milk air every Thursday.

This is Hidden Brain.

I went to a very nontraditional elementary school in the mid-70s, and the school's approach was very close to what Dr. Imordino talked about.

students were encouraged to come up with their own projects and learning ideas.

One time we wondered if for newly established Earth Day, we could have a celebration that would create zero trash.

And so the students went about working on ways to have some kind of a celebration using totally edible tableware, et cetera.

This school also traditionally outscored the other elementary schools on the standardized testing.

It was a fabulous experience and I felt like I loved going to school.

When I had to transfer into junior high, I remember our teacher in the math class early in the year was giving a test to see what we knew in the math class.

And it was the first time I'd sat in rows and faced forward and

instead of at tables where I could talk to my classmates.

So when I got to a problem I wasn't sure about, I began to scoot my desk across the empty space between the aisles to talk to my friend who also went to the same elementary school.

And the teacher was stupefied.

Why would I do that on a test?

And I was equally stupefied.

Why wouldn't I consult somebody else so that we could work on this together?

Anyway, it's why I became a teacher.

It's what I try to keep alive in my classroom today is that sense of wonder and how does what we're doing connect with the students' lives and their experiences.