Falling Behind is Fun

Slacking off on blogging, living life a little more.  Surprise visit from friends, time with hubbie-lovey, bowling and photo booth pictures this weekend, so I've been catching up on work. Sometimes the little things are the big joys in life.

Here is what is going on in teaching world:  Emily has hit a wall.  Let's hope it's a wall of sound.  My motivation is tanking.  This is what happens when you attempt to do projects like this at the winding down, end-of-year instead of the beginning when all is fresh and your students are not used to your ways.  But, I'm looking at it as a chance to practice and iron out some kinks before next year. I wish my school would do the same and everyone would just take a collective breath and relax a bit.  Wow, can adults be serious.

We're going to have to come back to #13, because it's a bigger one to digest.

Here are the easier techniques to catch us up...

#14:  BOARD=PAPER
Teach kids how to take notes.  Teach them that what goes on the board is what they should write in their notebooks.  It sounds simple, but if you've ever looked at what some kids do to a power point presentation, it's an exercise in minimalism.  They need to be shown explicitly HOW to become students.

#15:  CIRCULATE
Get on your feet teachers.  Get up and make it happen.  No more lazy-bones behind the desks.  I walk my rectangle back and forth daily, like an animal in a cage.  I really want a bigger room, can't you tell?  Why does the caged bird sing?  Because it wants the hell out!  Here are some useful tips for circulating the room.  This means owning the space and having access to every kid, fully, without tripping over backpacks or having to apologize as you step on their toes.  It means breaking the plane from the front of the room to the back within the first five minutes of every class.  This helps!  It really does.  It shakes the habit of hugging the board.  It's claiming territory, like a cat marking turf.  Only less smelly and offensive.  Just walk.  As you work the room, engage with kids, get them to sit up, check work, and reinforce what is good.  Move systematically and unpredictably so that kids don't necessarily know what you are going to do.  Position yourself for power so you can face most of the class most of the time.

All these things are wonderful, but not possible in my school.  I am working on modified versions of the above--that's the best I can do, folks.  It's like reading an abridged version of the book, this teaching in my teeny classroom.

Okay, so if you are still tuned in, here is #13:  NAME THE STEPS
Real mastery, as Kurt Vonnegut said, is being able to teach anything to an eight-year old.  Breaking down instruction into identifiable steps (under seven), making them easy to remember, and then applying the steps to problems is key to supporting student learning is important, important!  This teachnique (my new word for this book) has got me thinking about questions like:  How do you answer a question in literature satisfactorily?  How do you spot a key event in a story?  I am thinking about the thinking process and breaking it down into something I can teach students.  I don't recall having many teachers in my lifetime after Montessori school who would do this.  I'm the student now, and enjoying it.  Contrary to what everyone seems to think, those who can do cannot necessarily teach.  Mastery teaching is a skill set akin to that of a Top Chef Master.  So, dig that, a la flambé.