In this article Wiggins shares a guest post from a 14 year teacher who has become a high school learning coach. As this new coach begins to understand how to coach learning, she shares some insights and and possibly some regrets that she gains as he spends 2 full days in the seat of a student. She observes that students sit all day, and mostly passively absorb information, some of that is not positive and uplifting. She gives some suggestions of what she would change because of this new awareness. She would have students move some everyday, even if this had nothing to do with content, just let them move. They need a break. Even in the learning process of content stuff, they need to move. Give them something to do, with their hands to engage their minds. Students spend most of the day quiet, let them talk. In fact, let them have the floor. They should be teaching each other. I like the idea of setting a timer every time the teacher begins to speak. Education isn’t about me and it isn’t about what I know. The learning process is about the student and how they will know. These lessons learned can be applied in so many ways.
As a teacher candidate there are so many concepts I am trying to integrate into my teacher skills. There are a couple of things I feel strongly to start with. I will start each and every class with questions. Science isn’t about the right answers it needs to be about asking the right questions. I want this practice to lead our thinking and learning for the day, unit, course, even life. The second thing I will do is to move my students. I will encourage it in class and enable it in my lessons. I find that I, if left to myself, will sit inside all day. It is comfortable and easy but not very friendly to my body. I learn best moving, even if I am not intending to learn while I move. The last thing is more difficult. I want to empower my students to lead the class. This coach asked one of the students she shadowed if it would make a difference if that student were not there. The student laughed and responded “no.” That breaks my heart. There may not be enough good going on in a student’s life to motivate them to go to school, but if they know that there are other students dependant on them, that may make all the difference in the world. I need to teach for the student, but even more important, I need to teach the student how vital and empowered they are in their own world. They make a difference, everyday.
A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days - a sobering lesson learned. (2014, October 10). Retrieved November 14, 2015, from https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/a-veteran-teacher-turned-coach-shadows-2-students-for-2-days-a-sobering-lesson-learned/
As a teacher candidate there are so many concepts I am trying to integrate into my teacher skills. There are a couple of things I feel strongly to start with. I will start each and every class with questions. Science isn’t about the right answers it needs to be about asking the right questions. I want this practice to lead our thinking and learning for the day, unit, course, even life. The second thing I will do is to move my students. I will encourage it in class and enable it in my lessons. I find that I, if left to myself, will sit inside all day. It is comfortable and easy but not very friendly to my body. I learn best moving, even if I am not intending to learn while I move. The last thing is more difficult. I want to empower my students to lead the class. This coach asked one of the students she shadowed if it would make a difference if that student were not there. The student laughed and responded “no.” That breaks my heart. There may not be enough good going on in a student’s life to motivate them to go to school, but if they know that there are other students dependant on them, that may make all the difference in the world. I need to teach for the student, but even more important, I need to teach the student how vital and empowered they are in their own world. They make a difference, everyday.
A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days - a sobering lesson learned. (2014, October 10). Retrieved November 14, 2015, from https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/a-veteran-teacher-turned-coach-shadows-2-students-for-2-days-a-sobering-lesson-learned/