During this observation, I realized that I could probably make a boa from all of the distractions my students encounter in a day! Typical distractions included physical items like erasers, pencil grips, retainers, and books that were just too exciting to put away. What surprised me, were the distractions that were not so obvious. I realized that while I was teaching, I was also creating distractions. For example, while building up to the exciting part of a lesson, I told a student to turn her paper to the correct side. I also reminded a student to put his glasses on, prompted a boy to put his book away, and asked if a student could wait to use the restroom. While all of these side comments were brief and subtle, I realized that they were, indeed, distractions. Each time the focus was taken off the lesson content, more students became disengaged. In the future, I will not allow these minor distractions to get in the way of my lessons. I will wait until there is a "break in the action" to address the issues of individual students. I am also going to make more effort to keep students engaged, even if it means rethinking an entire lesson. While I cannot eliminate every distraction, I will do my best to keep the focus on what is important so that my students will learn more effectively. What are the "feathers" in your classroom?
Yesterday we celebrated a student's birthday. With that, comes the opportunity for the birthday student to dress up with items from our birthday box. One of the items was a colorful feather boa. Throughout the day, feathers kept falling out of that boa. Each time a feather fell out, a student would stop to pick it up. One student was even caught blowing a red feather around the room, completely lost in his own game. Needless to say, the boa became quite a distraction, leading to its retirement from the box of birthday costumes. This series of events caused me to step back and examine other possible "feathers in the room" that were keeping my students from being engaged in learning.
During this observation, I realized that I could probably make a boa from all of the distractions my students encounter in a day! Typical distractions included physical items like erasers, pencil grips, retainers, and books that were just too exciting to put away. What surprised me, were the distractions that were not so obvious. I realized that while I was teaching, I was also creating distractions. For example, while building up to the exciting part of a lesson, I told a student to turn her paper to the correct side. I also reminded a student to put his glasses on, prompted a boy to put his book away, and asked if a student could wait to use the restroom. While all of these side comments were brief and subtle, I realized that they were, indeed, distractions. Each time the focus was taken off the lesson content, more students became disengaged. In the future, I will not allow these minor distractions to get in the way of my lessons. I will wait until there is a "break in the action" to address the issues of individual students. I am also going to make more effort to keep students engaged, even if it means rethinking an entire lesson. While I cannot eliminate every distraction, I will do my best to keep the focus on what is important so that my students will learn more effectively. What are the "feathers" in your classroom?
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AuthorColleen Hinrichsen has been teaching since 2004. She taught first grade, third grade, became a technology coach, and is now a STEAM teacher. It is her goal to be as effective as possible, so self-reflection is a must-do. She enjoys the challenge of balancing rigor with fun, and choosing resources to best meet the needs of diverse learners. Archives
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