Teaching: A Classroom is Like a Swimming Pool

A classroom can be designed to be an Olympic pool, one organized and disciplined with rows of ropes dividing. A crowded public pool filled with the unending laughing and splashing of children. Or even an infinity pool, on the edge of a precipice where swimmers can peer over the edge towards wonderment and curiosity. The most successful classroom being a combination of the three. Size does not matter but the safety and excitement of the swimmers/students does.

Every classroom has those students who sit up front and center, eager to talk and share. They are the first to dive from the highest board and expertly land into the deep end. They can wade in any current and are successful learners because they take risks and are willing to fail. They have belly flopped numerous times but always get back up on the board and dive again.

Some students prefer the middle of the pool. They can swim to the center and try a new style of swimming but they are also near the edge so they can grab on when they get tired or frustrated. They are proficient swimmers but need to be challenged to enter the deep end and dive to the bottom. They often will with some encouragement.

There are also those students who remain feet securely planted on the floor of the pool. Water only reaching waist high. They need to feel safe. They are afraid to go any deeper with out an inner tube or raft. We as teachers need to ease them in slowly. Let them dip under the water and get their hair wet but let them do this at their own pace.

Finally, there are students who stay on the steps. Seated in the notion that they will not get their hair wet or shoulders submerged. Some may even only dip there feet in because they have had a bad experience in the water. It is a teachers job to provide opportunities for every student to feel like they can jump in the deep end and swim to the edge. They can leap from the high board or the low board. They do not need to leap but can slowly ease their way into the water to get comfortable to the temperature first before committing to the pool.

Teachers are the life guards there to protect but to observe. They are the expert divers, swimmers, and Olympic athletes. The swimmers however, make the waves, calm the tides, and create the excitement. They play the games "Marco...Polo." Some may free-style while others perform the breast-stroke or butterfly stroke. While others wade or float. But it is a teachers job to make sure every swimmer/student has the confidence to enter the pool.