Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Student Learning Vs. Emotion

Student learning, student learning, student learning. It's very important. Yes. The other day, my daughter asked me what I learned in 7th grade. I told her I couldn't remember. It's not because I had bad teachers or that it was too long ago to remember. I couldn't remember because that's just the way it is. It's funny how at times, teachers get so bent out of shape with trying to squeeze in more content, more homework, more stress. How much time is spent on coming up with new strategies for learning, whether it's inquiry-based learning, document-based learning, exit checks, student-led, flipped classroom, gamification, and the list goes on.  The amount of time you spend on content and strategies should not be more than the time you spend on building relationships with the students.  At the very least, they should be equal. Ask them how they are doing. Ask them how their weekend was. Ask them what they want to be when they grow up. Ask them what book they are reading. Ask them about their hobbies. Ask them what they think about.  
Student learning is extremely important. But it doesn't happen unless there is a positive relationship between the teacher and the students and those students are emotionally invested.
So what do you spend your time doing? 

1 comment:

Brenda Waterbury said...

So true Dan, so true!