"Rock the boat. She won't sink. In fact, she sail farther. Complacency becalms and even endangers the casual sailor. Educators can't afford anything less than vigilant attention to progress, regular examinations of all we do." (Rick Wormeli, The Collected Writings, 2013)
If you aren't moving forward, you are falling behind. Teachers, administrators and parents have to help their students challenge themselves and keep moving forward. We have to rock the boat. Life for our children is moving forward around them and it can be rocky. We have to prepare them to adapt and adjust to this movement and rockiness. We cannot have them do as we did, because when it worked for us, it was a different time. However we support them, do it moving forward balancing ourselves through the rockiness.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Monday, October 3, 2016
Lunch time ponderings
I stood in the lunchroom for about an hour and a half today and watched my students interact with each other as only they can. The conversations were silly, spirited, and serious; all going on at the same time. Lunch time is when kids can be kids. That was my post on our Twitter account (@Tyngsmiddle) and it made once again made me realize that in this somewhat structured setting (the lunchroom) that students are themselves.
We spend so much time in schools controlling time, resources and movement that we stifle what comes naturally to middle school students; the desire to interact. Students are at their best when they are interacting with each other. They are inquisitive, challenging and engaged when given the opportunity to be with each other in a social setting. The need for a positive and social classroom is essential to get the most out of our students. I am not suggesting a "lunchroom" setting for your classroom (but healthy food is always a good thing, even in a classroom) but rather a setting where we release a little control and let the students be more like themselves.
For some further support to this idea I looked to some scholarly work and this caught my eye (by Katelyn Wendel:
https://prezi.com/fb-4gbyahpyd/importance-of-classroom-social-environment/
We spend so much time in schools controlling time, resources and movement that we stifle what comes naturally to middle school students; the desire to interact. Students are at their best when they are interacting with each other. They are inquisitive, challenging and engaged when given the opportunity to be with each other in a social setting. The need for a positive and social classroom is essential to get the most out of our students. I am not suggesting a "lunchroom" setting for your classroom (but healthy food is always a good thing, even in a classroom) but rather a setting where we release a little control and let the students be more like themselves.
For some further support to this idea I looked to some scholarly work and this caught my eye (by Katelyn Wendel:
https://prezi.com/fb-4gbyahpyd/importance-of-classroom-social-environment/
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