Mistakes
are part of the dues one pays for a full life.
Sophia
Loren, actress
In
the classroom, there’s an interesting relationship between control and
intellectual challenge. Tasks that are easy to control often have a low
cognitive load. For example, twenty-five students sitting in rows working
independently to complete a worksheet might be orderly and compliant, but the
intellectual work they are doing could be quite minimal. On the other hand, groups
of students gathered in pockets around the room reenacting the rotation of the
earth around the sun might look a bit messy, but there’s probably a lot of
learning going on.
Researchers
have found a correlation between a teacher’s ability to manage a classroom flexibly
and that teacher’s ability to teach in an intellectually challenging
way. I’m sure it’s not a direct correlation, but it seems to me that during
instruction, the more control of the task the teacher has, the less students
are learning. I’m not advocating chaos, but I am hoping for classrooms where
students have the opportunity to own their learning.
Right
now I’m working with a novice teacher who is not afraid to take risks. I
observed the earth rotation activity, described above, in her classroom. I also
watched when groups of students were sprawled on the floor with markers and big
sheets of bulletin board paper, demonstrating their math methodology and
promoting their strategy as the one
that should be highlighted by the group. There were lots of problems with that
lesson – not only from a management perspective, but also with formative
assessment and communication of content. But when we got together to debrief, I
started with applause. Applause for taking the risk and teaching a lesson that
was harder to control. Applause for modelling the courteous dialogue she
expected. Applause for the critical thinking students were doing as they
compared their problem-solving strategy with their peers.
Then
we talked about what a great opportunity the lesson provided for us to see some
things that needed work. Students completing a page of math problem might have
looked like impressive classroom management and appropriate skills practice,
but it wouldn’t have opened windows of opportunity for us to dig in deeply
together about the complexities of formative assessment that reared their ugly
heads because of the flexibility of the work students were doing.
I’m
always grateful for teachers who are willing to take a risk and exchange
control for challenge. And I know it’s an extra risk to teach such a lesson
when I’m there observing. But there is so much more grist for the mill from
open-ended, complex tasks than from lessons that keep kids working quietly. I’ve
sat through many an expressive read-aloud, with students sitting quietly, that
provided little fodder for coaching conversation. Exchanging control for challenge means
taking a risk. Taking a risk leads to mistakes. And mistakes can be the path to
learning and growth, for both students and teachers.
This week, you might want to
take a look at:
Intensive
coaching is important for new teachers:
Twitter-style
exit tickets:
Sharable
articles on the research that should guide literacy instruction:
https://threeteacherstalk.com/2016/06/28/try-it-tuesday-cite-the-research-that-drives-your-practice/
Three
questions to determine importance in a text:
Show
and Tell: How important objects inspire personal narrative:
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