Stagnant Learning or Stagnant Teaching?
As educators, we are quick to blame the students when they do not learn what we teach. What if, instead, we looked at our instruction? Do we provide learning opportunities for our students that are consistent with their needs and experiences? Are we providing learning opportunities that are stagnant or robust? If we are doing the same thing year after year, without any modifications or growth, then we are teaching in a stagnant manner. By doing so, how we can we expect our students to learn and grow in our classrooms?
Merriam Webster defines stagnant as not advancing or developing. When I think of this from an educators perspective I immediately want to focus on student growth and learning. I have to actively change my mindset to look at this from the viewpoint of: How am I advancing or developing as an educator? Part of being able to advance skills as an educator is to embrace change.
How do we do this? I believe that in order to become a dynamic educator, an educator who is continuously and productively changing, teachers must be willing to:
Participate in Professional Development opportunities with a positive mindset
Learn more about the culture and experiences of their students
Try new things [and sometimes FAIL]
Reflect honestly about student learning & engagement
Be open-minded when confronted with something NEW
Create and grow a Professional Learning Network
Each one of these things requires the TEACHER to focus on his/herself and beliefs in their own teaching practices. If we want our students to develop a love of learning, experiences provided to them need to be dynamic as well. Kasey Bell, from Shake Up Learning, does an amazing job of describing ways teachers can move from static lesson design to dynamic lesson design.Â
How can embracing change make a difference in our classrooms?
Student engagement, motivation, and interest is a factor in learning that must be considered with every lesson design. Isn't our goal as teachers to help students LOVE TO LEARN? If not, it should be. Yes, of course, we have specific learning goals as well. But, what about those life-long goals? I tell my students and parents at the beginning of the year that my number one goal is for them to walk out of my classroom at the end of the year with a LOVE OF READING. That's it. That's my goal.Â
So, how do we do this? We need to expand our own belief systems in what is "best" or "right" in the classroom. We need to research and observe and learn from other educators and STUDENTS. If we do the same thing over and over again what progress are we making as educators? How are we modeling a true love of learning if we never show that we are learners ourselves?Â
Ways we can model a love of learning:
Talk about our own learning experiences, both past & present
Share learning outcomes from Professional Development
Show students how you take notes when learning by passing around a book you recently marked up or displaying notes you took in a recent meeting
Get excited about new things and share them with your students
Share your failures-OFTEN
What do all of these things have in common? SHARING. Share with your students, be authentic. Through that process, they begin to trust you when you ask them to try something new. They know you will do the same and it helps them feel safer to make risky decisions in the classroom.Â
Creating a Culture That Accepts Change
With learning new things, comes failure. It is important when having this discussion that we focus on helping students accept failure as a learning experience and not internalize as a reflection of their self.Â
Allow student autonomy. Provide a positive environment where students can share when they get excited about something new. Celebrate mistakes & failures.Â
Get to know who your students are and meet them where they are. This may mean stepping out of your comfort zone. Don't let fear guide your actions. Take risks in teaching, so students can take risks in learning. If you want students to be accepting of change and to try new things, then as an educator you need to do the same. Accept their feedback and apply it to your lessons and units. When they see you learning and growing from them, students are more willing to take risks themselves and try new things. They become open-minded and begin to see that learning is a process and is necessary for life-long success.Â
Jake Miller said, "Sometimes failing at something ambitious can be better than succeeding at something easy." I have this posted in my classroom as a reminder for myself and students. As they grow, learn, and fail, I too must do the same. In order for that to happen, I can no longer fear change. None of us can. Not if we want to make a true difference with our students. Â