Staring at a blank, white screen, cursor blinking.. .. .. .. incessantly..why..can't..you..think..of..something..to..write. The frustration adding to the chaos in my mind. The words vanishing as soon as I think of them. Nothing I want to say seems valid or worth typing, I simply pause. This is such a bad place to be in as a writer. As a teacher, worse, with 30+ eyes staring back at you, wondering why you stopped, why you seem confused, why what it appears to them, you seem disinterested. But in reality, your mind has been flooded to saturation, too many things to do, teach, organize, complete, that your brain just gives an error code and shuts down. This can be for a moment or for several. How do you get back on track now that your students have also seen the error code? How do I sort through the chaos in my processing? How do I shrug the temporary set back off and reconvene the class? I laugh, "Brain fart." or "Epic fail." My students laugh. Then I set them off on their daily student-centered activity.
Students are always forgiving and seem to just ignore it when I am honest. I make mistakes, I through lack of sleep forget the instructions and wing it. Honesty is always the best policy. I find the less I say the better. The simple description, instructions, basic game plan written on the board, materials provided, students will investigate and create their own activities. I make sure they are on the right track but then leave them to their own devices (literally BYOD) and their creativity and curiosity. Build, design, write, justify, explain, through any means at your disposal. Collaborate, combine, converse, create as a community. Redesign, correct, determine what further help is needed, accomplish. Remediate or enrich, mentor or be mentored, but choose what you need to succeed. Teacher's block can trickle into student block. I make sure to give them time to discuss and reflect before turning anything in to help combat this. We all have good days and bad days and we all need an extra hand now and again.
I have put strategies in place to help avoid teacher block, reflection being key. I reflect before I have a lesson, to determine any thing I may foresee as a hindrance. I reflect after a lesson, what could have gone better, were students truly successful. I have students reflect in their journals as well, by asking them what do you feel will be the best way for you to learn this information? How can you design an activity to help make this happen? We discuss in 1-minute chats and then they implement. Student block can be averted by modeling the best strategies for learning and reminding students what has been successful for them in the past. Teacher block can be minimized when we lessen our work load, put more of the heavy lifting in students hands. No need to stand in front of the room and explain in every last detail the procedures if you model them daily. Eliminate lectures by blending the classroom and having notes and vocabulary on-line in discussion questions and a quick 5-minute podcast. Better yet have students create the podcasts.
Every day look for one more simple way to lessen your load. To provide an opportunity for students to be the leaders. Eventually you will have a student-led classroom and then teachers block will be a thing of the past. Always baby steps, small increments, but in the end they will become the procedures and expectations that keep your class both engaging, exciting, and every student will feel like they have a voice and will contribute to the classroom dynamic. When isolation becomes an atmosphere of curiosity and exploration, there will be nothing to stand in the way of student happiness, collaboration, and success.
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