The article linked above describes what a veteran teacher learned when she shadowed two different students for a day. Her experience of following the students came about as an effective way to introduce her to her new role as an academic coach for students. She followed a sophmore one day, and a senior the next day. Her insights are varied and valuable for all teachers to consider. One of the first things she noted was how exhausted she was at the end of the school day. Yes, she had only been sitting and listening for most of the day, but sitting still and absorbing academic information for hours at a time is exhausting. She also noted that students are mostly listening passively to information that is being given to them, with very few opportunities to move around and do any kind of hands on learning.
She came away with three major take aways: 1) students need to get up and move around in class, 2) they need to be more involved in their own learning processes beyond listening passively to lessons, and 3) students receive a fair amount of snarky remarks from teachers throughout the day, which is not only exhausting and embarassing, but it also inhibits students' ability to learn in that classroom. Considering the arguments this article makes and my own experiences in high school education, it seems that teachers sometimes need a reminder to consider the students' perspective. Consider what your students are going through on a daily basis: pressures to perform well academically, which includes completing homework on time and studying for quizzes and tests, being involved in extracurriculars (which are required for college bound students), and navigating the social scene. All of these tasks invovle using skills that students are currently learning during the high school years. The amount that students are absorbing is astounding, and as fully developed adults it can be easy to forget how completely grueling this can be. It is easy for teachers to forget to think of their students as emotional beingings. It is also important to remember the developmental stage that high school students are going through. This is a time for students when poetry, art, and science can literally change how you view and experience the world. I was discussing with a friend the changes of education as you progress through the various stages from high school, to college, to graduate school. Of course not all students follow this path tragectory (that is a different topic for a different post), but it is interesting to consider the tragectory of education in a general sense. My friend (who is working on her PhD) made the comment that at every stage in your education, it feels as though you are taking on the most you can handle at that time. It was an interesting idea, and one that I believe to be true. Teachers, who are generally speaking college graduates, can easily belittle what students are going through and experiencing in high school because we have already had the college experience. The point I'm trying to make is that to be effective educators, teachers must be empathetic. How else can you trully reach your students and impact their lives for the better? Wiggins, Grant. (2014, October 14). A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days- a sobering lesson learned. Retrieved from https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/a-veteran-teacher-turned-coach-shadows-2-students-for-2-days-a-sobering-lesson-learned/
3 Comments
Ben Tyler
12/3/2016 04:13:06 pm
Elizabeth,
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Margaret Sullivan
12/3/2016 10:06:32 pm
Elizabeth, this is such a great post! You bring up some really fantastic (and way to often overlooked) points about students. There have been times that I have empathized with my students, because it was just last semester that I was in their shoes, to a certain extent, finishing my bachelors degree. But I wonder as I am further and further removed if I will be able to maintain that mindset. You are spot on reminding us to remember the emotional side of this job, and more importantly our students. Great post!
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Maribel Perez
12/4/2016 10:25:57 pm
Elizabeth,
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AuthorI'm currently a teacher candidate in pursuit of my English Credential. Archives
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