Delusional Discrepancies

I startled awake the other night, 4:12 a.m., eyes half closed, in the dark, I forgot where I was, who I was. This confusion kept me in a state of the "in between" for a moment or two, before the reality of the quiet humming of my fan brought me back to the here and now. I closed my eyes and tried to fall back asleep, but to no avail. I decided to reflect and write in my journal. I have no idea what broke my sleep but it did open me up to some great ideas. Those moments of clarity, when all else is dim and distant. These delusional discrepancies that create the back drop of who we are. In psychology lingo a delusion is belief or intention that even when contradicted stays steadfast in our mind. When you are half asleep, this is when most delusions appear. Then slowly as you wander back from slumber they become clarity losing their idiosyncrasy. These divergent discrepancies become compatible and converged into our schema.

How can we combat these delusional discrepancies- as teachers we feel we are providing active authentic learning experiences, hands on tasks, student-driven lessons, but do students feel we are? As teachers we believe we are building strong relationships, are developing trusting communities in our classrooms but do students agree? There is usually a discrepancy when it comes to these questions. So how can we make sure we are making the right impact on our students? Ask them. Get consistent, constructive feedback, from students. It may be difficult to hear at first, as we all feel we are doing a better job then we actually may be. We as teachers have a good instinct at recognizing engagement versus compliance. But how do we know they are truly engaged? Conduct surveys, anonymous data collection. Students will be honest if they know they will not be held accountable for their honesty. As teachers if we are in fact doing these things, then this feedback should be welcomed not feared.

The gap between what teachers believe and what students believe needs to be narrowed. If we ask students how they would like to learn, how they learn best and let students create their own plan on how to teach themselves then the discrepancy can be lessened. They will feel they are empowered to create their own experiences in the classroom. In my class we have 1-minute check-ins and this is where I ask them what is working for them and what isn't and what I can to to help them. I have google surveys they can complete anonymously, and I have them write reflections on their activities. With all this information I can make sure that when I feel the lesson was a success, when I felt students were committed and engaged that they actually were. Crushing the delusional discrepancies takes place when we are startled awake from our dream-like haze where we get in teacher mode and lose sight of what may actually be taking place. When the quiet humming of student voices are interacting and collaborating and we see that engagement is reality and students feel connected and interested in the lesson. This is when what we believe is happening is actually happening.