Monthly Ed Tip September 2021 - The Wisdom of Experienced Teachers

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Welcome to a new school year that I am positive will be unique in so many ways due to the Coronavirus. Hopefully, the insights provided from experienced teachers outlined in the article "Wisdom of Experience Teachers" will benefit all educators.

The pandemic has, among many other things, created school schedules that are virtual, hybrid, or a combination of both.  This has forced parents to alter work schedules (or at worst quit their jobs) to provide home instruction.  At the same time, many schools have decided to return to full-time classroom instruction.

Of course, the controversy over vaccination and masks are topics not to ignored.  In Pennsylvania, the governor has mandated masks to be worn by all students and personnel while in school buildings. 

Over the summer I read an interesting article by Judy Willis in which she shares insights from experienced teachers reflecting on what they wished they had known as a first-year teacher.  Dr. Willis’ May/June 2020 newsletter encompasses many of the topics I have written about over the years that I feel are extremely important and beneficial to increase student learning, but are often overlooked in the discussion among the experts of how to improve students’ outcomes.  Namely, the importance of the social-emotional climate of the classroom, the paybacks of setting students’ expectations, and the benefits of reducing the fear of student failure in the classroom.

Dr. Willis is a distinguished lecturer at national conferences, the author of numerous educational articles and books, and coupled with her background as a neurologist and classroom teacher, is an authority on brain research regarding learning and best teaching practices.

Below is her newsletter titled “The Wisdom of Experienced Teachers.”

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The Wisdom of Experienced Teachers

I've consolidated some of the wisdom of experienced teachers in response to the question, “What I know now that I wish I had known as a first-year teacher.” From the practical to the philosophical, they offer their insights and suggestions, presented here as edited, condensed bullet points.

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Classroom Climate: When students have strong perceptions of potential threat, it inhibits learning. If students feel the classroom is a safe place, they are more open to receiving information taught, asking questions, and even making mistakes.

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From the start: Clear Expectations for Classroom Behavior

• I didn't know how important it was to go over good rules and procedures at the beginning of the school year. I was struggling with classroom management and ended up getting frustrated. I didn't know that all I had to do sometimes was go over these again, perhaps in a different way, such as with modeling or examples.  

• I wish I started the year with as much planning for how I'd respond to student behavior as I did on content planning. It took a while, but when I focused on sustaining a consistent plan of responses, at least for the most common behavior challenges, the students became more responsible for the expectations I held for them. It really works to start the year with plans for your responses and cut yourself slack if you are not always perfect.  

• With my insecurity, I lost my cool and "reacted" instead of "reflected" on my response to behavior challenges. With experience and guidance from colleagues and mentors, I build up my leadership style to be more calm, consistent, and confident

• During my first year, I didn't realize how important it was to take the time to talk about rules and procedures clearly. However, I learned my lesson well and now know that whenever something is working, I take the time to provide more clarity in what they are supposed to do. If it's a new procedure, I learned that I can't just make them do it, they need to know "how".

From the start: A safe community

• Create a safe community to reduce stress and promote participation with a learning environment in which they feel safe from potential threat but also to take the risks of participating and even making mistakes.

• The only person in the room you can control is yourself. Every behavior a child exhibits is a reaction. These reactions are outcomes you can help reduce. You can’t change what is going on at children’s homes, but you can make your classroom a safe place for all.

• The most important of classroom rules regarding the perception of safety by students are those that assure them that their physical person, property, and feelings will not be hurt. 

• Trust is very important – the trust you earn as their teacher. Students count on their teachers to enforce the rules that are in place. Assure students that you will indeed be there to enforce the rules is by demonstrating early on that you are aware of times when their property, person, or feelings are perhaps being threatened and that you will intervene promptly. 

• When you need to step in because a student is infringing on a classmate's or class comfort levels, regarding their physical, property, or emotional safety, keep the interaction calm. Reinforce your role of keeping all students safe. Change the situation to remove the person causing the distress from the interaction. Acknowledge to the class that you recognized the problem and have things in control. Your subsequent intervention with the student who caused the problem should be private or supervised away from classmates. Emphasize your wanting to understand the causes of the behavior and desire to work with them to prevent recurrence.

As you build knowledge of your students, you'll build trust in yourself

A frequent theme in the suggestions of the accomplished educators was being aware of and responsive to the strengths, interests, motivators, and needs of one's students. Some reflections follow.

• Understand that the brain response to high stress in students is not voluntary 

• There are no lazy or bad kids. They may react that way when stressed by perceived threat, sustained boredom, or frustrations from repeated failures.

• Be honest and respond fairly and consistently to their behavior and follow through with plans.

• Love your students, even when they aggravate you. Be empathetic towards them. They won’t care about what you have to teach, unless they know you care about them!

Reduce mistake fear and boost participation from the start

• Create a learning environment in which students feel comfortable, and they’ll take the risks of making mistakes.

• Each moment presents us with opportunities and challenges. We succeed when we know our students as individuals, know our subjects well, and trust ourselves to respond creatively and learn from our mistakes.

• Ask great questions and make time for students to think deeply. Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know. Let’s find out together” when you do not know the answer to a student’s question.

Be Kind and Fair to Yourself

Be kind and fair to yourself as you begin teaching, especially during challenging times, and with setbacks and mistakes. As a wise educator reflected, "I wish I had known that the students would be so forgiving of my mistakes – almost endlessly so. I kept encouraging them to take risks without taking many myself.

Keep igniting, 

Judy 

Judy Willis, MD, MEd