Tuesday, August 12, 2014

5 questions every teacher should ask him/herself

1). Who is doing a majority of the talking in your classroom?

It's the person who is doing the majority of the talking that tends to do the most learning, so what is the teacher/student talking ratio in your classroom? If you find yourself always talking more than your students, try and figure out some ways to empower your students so they are more involved in the learning.

2). How often are you mixing up and changing the learning landscape in your classroom?

So there's this misconception that learning must take place within the four walls of a classroom. In spite of popular belief, the magic barrier between a classroom and the outside world doesn't work like a light switch where learning can occur and can't occur. Learning is happening all around and should be happening all around us; there are no limits or barriers to where and when learning can occur. Take the authenticity of your classroom to the next level by mixing up the learning landscape and allowing kids to learn in a more natural state.

3). Who is deciding what is relevant and important in your classroom?

What you think is important and relevant may not align perfectly with what your students think is important and relevant. If we the educators are constantly telling students what to learn and how to learn it, then we are leaving out the most important parts of the education process, student voice and student choice. Embrace a learning culture where student opinions and student interests are valued and encouraged and you will see student engagement and student passion skyrocket.

4). How often are you including physical movement in your classroom?

Research is quite clear that physical movement has a huge impact on brain activity and brain health. Too often though our classrooms reward and reinforce student compliance and students sitting quietly in neat little rows. Allow your classroom to breathe some fresh air (literally) by taking short walking and physical activity breaks. Think about it this way... in a 50 minute period students will start losing brain activity around 20 minutes, so the next 30 minutes are minimal brain activity at best. Try after 20 minutes taking a 10 minute physical activity break and get another 20 minutes of good brain activity for a total of 40 solid minutes of learning when compared to 20.

5). Is your classroom going to measure up to the dreams and hopes your students are entering your classroom with?

Students are entering our schools with huge dreams and huge hopes. It's our job to ensure what we are doing is going to measure up to their dreams and hopes. It's no easy task for sure, but I can assure you, you don't want to be the educator responsible for extinguishing that hope or smashing that dream...