Teaching is messy.
- You will observe one kid sitting next to me, knees on his chair, leaning forward so half of his upper body is on the table.
- You will see another kid, standing behind him, shifting his weight from one foot to another, as he finishes his bag of Doritos and shouts out the answers to the questions I’m asking him.
- You’ll see two kids sitting at the table. Not paying any attention to the other two kids who have got some MAJOR wiggles. (Because everybody in our group knows that Andrew is a stronger participant when he gets to stand up and move).
- You will see me, the ringleader, with my hair a little frazzled and my brain a bit scattered. You will watch as I do a few minutes of direct instruction and then give the kids an opportunity to turn-and-talk. It is then when I will quickly pull another kid to work with them 1:1.
Teaching is not always graceful.
Sometimes, when there’s an urgency to CLOSE THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP, you have to do whatever you can, whenever you can possibly fit it in. Even when it’s awkward. Even when it messes up the perfect silence of the classroom you share.
Like, during the first 20 minutes of the day, for example. I will pull up a chair next to one of my students – while the teacher takes attendance – and quiz her on her sight words. Or, perhaps, when I walk the kids down to the cafeteria for lunch. During that three-minute walk, I will review their multiplication facts with them. Or, in those gosh-darn-moments that occur more often than not, when teachers are struggling with their technology, I take advantage of those few minutes to go over the vocabulary words from the week.
Questions of the Day:
- How do you maximize every second of the day with your students?
- What procedures and practices do you have in place to be efficient with your day?
Teaching is indeed one of the most challenging professions out there. Hence, I have utmost respect for teachers because of the hard work that they do!
Abby of GlobalGirlTravels.com
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I’m not a teacher, but I can see similar principles might apply to parenting – you just have to try and squeeze in what you can to those little moments in the day, and not worry too much if it’s “messy”!
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Wow how awesome that you grab every moment in the day to engage with your students, it would definitely benifit their learning!
What a great observation! It is a good thing messy can also be fun much of the time! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this subject.
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I always try to spoil my kids’ teachers because I know it is not an easy job! Much respect for our teachers…it’s like being a parent to 27 kids.
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I give you so so so much credit! You have loads of patience to be a teacher! I definitely would be fired within 10 seconds – LOL – wait, I would never ever be hired to begin with! We need more people like you in this world, not me! 😉
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I love this! I’m a teacher who is not currently teaching – I’m home with my girls for the time being. But I think this all applies to motherhood as well!
I believe this so much! Much to the dismay of some of the people I have helped in classrooms I’m afraid. ( I always cleaned up. ) Genius always make messes I am sure the messy classroom is an effective one.
I admire what you do so much! My daughter had a learning disability and her teachers fought for her against the system so hard and at that time it was much harder, it truly humbled me as a mother and earned my undying respect
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I will bet that your students end up loving learning more so then those classrooms where you have to sit silent and listen and only speak when asked a question. I am not a teacher but I totally agree with how you are handling it!
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I can totally picture what your classroom is like! It brings me back to the days when my kids were little. It’s great that you take the time to fit in some extra teaching when you can.
As a teacher, I appreciated this post. I had to smile and nod and felt exactly what you were writing. Thanks for sharing!
We have always liked our kids’ teachers. They truly care. This seems like a great profession to have for many reasons.
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Glad to hear that your classroom is one that is used wisely and shows it. If it is not messy somewhat, then it is not being used the right way.
As a room parent I get a chance to visit my little one’s class and observe both the kids and her teacher. I am always in awe of the teacher. I am sure the parents must feel the same way about you.
I love that you acknowledge that some kids do better when they are allowed to move! My Bear is one of those! He really needs a lot of one on one and be able to move frequently. I’d love it if his class implemented using yoga balls as seats! He’d do great with a teacher like you!
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I’m an inclusion teacher now so I don’t technically have my “own” classroom anymore. But, when I used to teach a self-contained class, yoga balls were our chairs and I LOVED IT. Others came in and said the bouncing made their head hurt. But, I think it really helped my kids stay at their seats for longer and, thus, on-track for much longer!
A noble profession. Such challenges you have to deal with daily.
A BIG SALUTE to you Ms. Divya and to all other teachers of the world.
I am not a teacher but I am a parent and it is somewhat similar to how I parent my kiddos. I applaud all teachers because it is such hard work. I only wish for the teachers in the US that we as a society valued y’all more.
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I’m a homeschooler so this definitely resonates with me!
I’m not a teacher but I love that you take the time to be present with your students whenever possible. You could easily take a minute mentally disappear on the walk to the cafeteria or while tech doesn’t work right away. Yet, you’re giving your kids so much just by being there in the small ways.
Letting kids express their creativity is definitely a great way to get them to learn. I love infusing arts and crafts into any learning activity.
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Insightful article, Divya!
Teaching can indeed be messy, but eventually it is a noble profession that builds our future 🙂
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Insightful article, Divya.
Teaching can indeed be messy, but eventually it is a noble profession that paves our future.
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