The Master Teacher Blog

Metaphors can be powerful tools for communicating and creating understanding. Part of their charm and utility is that they can help us to see limitations and imagine alternatives, a safe and inviting way to articulate the case for change and suggest possible options. With this context in mind, let's consider the metaphor of a typewriter to help us see how the design of our educational system might be holding us back from what we need. It might also help us to rethink the design in useful ways.

Consider that the typewriter was an amazing innovation in its time. The work of the traditional typesetter immediately became available to anyone with access to the machine. Professional printing was no longer the purview of a few highly skilled individuals. Similarly, the emergence of our public education system created access to learning opportunities that previously have been confined to the wealthy and privileged. However, while access remains important, access alone is not adequate to prepare students for their futures.

Rethink opportunity: How can we assure that every student has access to rich learning opportunities and support and is challenged to move their learning to ever higher levels and deeper understanding?

The typewriter provided precision in type and uniformity in presentation. Our education system, too, was designed to create uniformity and precision in teaching and learning. Schools were charged with preparing students for a predictable future and a stable economy that, for most graduates, required a relatively narrow set of minimal skills. Yet, today’s world demands creativity, innovation, and flexibility; skills difficult to foster in a standardized and compliance-based design.

Rethink opportunity: How might we design more opportunities for flexibility, variety, and diversity in learning experiences?

Typewriters were designed for use in isolation. A single person developed a single product following a set approach. Similarly, our schools were designed for learning to occur in a predetermined sequence, largely disconnected from application and devoid of collaboration. Meanwhile, today’s workplace values networks, shared creativity, and instant communication.

Rethink opportunity: How can we create learning environments that encourage collaboration, celebrate connections, and nurture learning networks?

Typewriters were not tolerant of mistakes or changes. Even minor errors in keystrokes required retyping or covering with “whiteout.” Changes to content typically meant starting over. The design of our educational system does not accommodate mistakes very well. Instruction is intended to keep moving forward. Mistakes are treated as interruptions and malfunctions rather than naturally occurring aspects of learning. Terms such as “remediation” imply having to fix learners rather than accepting and addressing errors and mistakes as important components of learning.

Rethink opportunity: How can we create opportunities for mistakes and errors to be celebrated as part of learning processes and utilized to accelerate understanding and deepen insights?

Typewriters immediately increased the productivity of office workers. Tasks that previously took excessive time and care became far less time intensive. However, we would not expect workers to meet workplace expectations today while relying on a typewriter to generate the volume and variety of products we take for granted. Yet, educators are expected to follow and rely on a system design that has changed relatively little since its creation in the late 1800’s. There should be little wonder about why schools often do not produce the results expected and needed in today’s world.

Rethink opportunity: How can we harness today’s technology tools to support greater productivity without adding excessive pressure and workloads?

Typewriters offer feelings of nostalgia for many people. The sounds of clicking keys and the bell of a return carriage can conjure familiar memories and reminders of simpler, less complicated times. The structures and schedules and the compliance and fact-focused curriculum of traditional schools can feel familiar, predictable, and even reassuring. However, the world for which today’s schools are challenged to prepare students will demand flexibility, collaboration, curiosity, imagination, and innovation; features traditional schooling was not designed to foster.

Rethink opportunity: How can schools evolve to encourage more curiosity, greater collaboration, expanded creativity, and richer imagination? 

The invention of the typewriter represented a major step forward in printing and the design of our education system opened the door to major advances in learning. However, much like the typewriter of yesteryear, our thinking and approaches to learning need to evolve and respond to new opportunities and the demands our students will face in life and work.

We have many tools for communicating at our disposal. We can make powerful statements, present compelling arguments, and ask compelling questions. We can shout, whisper, speak quickly, or slow our speaking pace. Yet, arguably, the most powerful and flexible communication tool we possess isn’t found in the sounds we make. It resides in the silence we create.

The space when we are not speaking can communicate a wealth of meaning. When we choose to pause our words and remain silent, we can say more than we might when using dozens of words. Arguably, there is no other communication tool with as many potential uses and that packs as much power as the pause.

Of course, the meaning and impact of creating a pause may depend on elements such as timing, context, and non-verbal supports. However, we should not underestimate the power of a pause to convey an important message, provide space for reflection, or offer an opportunity for deeper connection. Consider these ten roles a pause can play and the impact each application can have:

• Offering evidence of active listening. A pause following something said can communicate active listening and a commitment to hear, not just speak.
• Showing patience and respect. A pause can be a signal for someone to speak during conversation, whether one-on-one or in a group. It can be a sign that we are ready to listen. 
• Express doubt. Saying nothing can say a lot about whether we believe what we are hearing. If fact, when people are not being honest, a pause can lead them to say more than they intend to fill the silence and strengthen their story.
• Inviting agreement or disagreement. Pausing after making an argument or stating a position can be an invitation for a response. A pause can create space for reaction, minimize interruptions, and support a respectful exchange on an emotional topic.
• Frame a response. Rather than making a knee jerk reaction, a pause can create the space we need to respond thoughtfully. A pause can also give us time to gain control of our emotions and choose to avoid “taking the bait.”
• Offering space for reflection.  A pause can be a time to process what has been said. A pause can allow us to take in something important or emotional, consider its implications, and appreciate its importance.
• Create tension or drama. When telling a story or making a presentation, pausing before revealing an important piece of information can create anticipation, build tension, and maximize the attention the audience will give to what is said next.
• Add emphasis. A pause following an important statement can emphasize its importance, give the audience time to consider the implications of what has been said, and increase its memorability.
• Offer turn taking. Pauses in meeting conversations can create space for people who are waiting to speak. Fast-paced conversations favor those who think and speak quickly and with confidence. Creating a pause in the flow can make room for those who may need time to think or who are reluctant to speak.
• Signaling a change of subject. A pause at the end of a discussion can be an invitation for any final thoughts or comments on a topic and create a break before moving to a new topic or issue.

As we work with students, colleagues, family members, and friends we should utilize the power of well-placed, strategically utilized pauses. We can become preoccupied with what we have to say, but we should not neglect the understated, but awesome potential of a thoughtful pause.

This is the time of the year when we often pause to contemplate the aspects of our lives for which we are thankful. We might focus on our families. We often reflect on our health. We might consider the career success we have achieved and the colleagues we work with. Our reflections could include the freedoms we enjoy, and the opportunities we’ve had in the past year.

However, there is another important element of our daily lives that we can easily overlook: the students we teach. Of course, some students may make our lives more challenging. Some students may not immediately respond to our efforts. Other students may seem to have a knack for trying our patience.

Consequently, we may not consider our students on the list of reasons to be thankful during this season. However, if we pause and reflect on our relationships, the lessons students teach us, and the extent to which they keep us fresh, we are likely to discover that there is much about the experiences we have with students that are worthy of our appreciation. Consider these aspects of our interactions with students that deserve our gratitude:

• Students are the reason we teach. They are our “why.” They present opportunities to shape futures. They give us direction and add meaning to our lives.
• Students are often powerful teachers. The questions students ask, the fresh perspectives they offer, and even their misunderstandings can stimulate our thinking and uncover fresh insights.
• Students bring energy and possibility to our work. They can make us laugh with their humor and amaze us with their imagination.
• Students remind us of the reality of humanity. Students often demonstrate amazing courage, reveal aching vulnerability, and incredible resilience.
• Students challenge us to be adaptable. Just when we think we have seen everything, we encounter a student who presents a new challenge, needs a new approach, or invites us to rethink what we have assumed.
• Students teach us the value of patience and empathy. Every student needs our understanding and hopes for our support. Often, it is the students who seem to be the most difficult to reach who need us the most.

So, how might we demonstrate the appreciation we feel for our students? Here are six ideas to consider as places to start:

• Tell students directly and specifically. We can share with students our appreciation for the effort they invested in a project, the care they demonstrated for a classmate, or the restraint they demonstrated despite their frustration. A brief conversation or written note can matter more than we can imagine.
• Recognize and celebrate growth. Not every student will find success in response to every learning challenge. However, we can reinforce persistence and progress. Often, students who face the longest learning journey receive the least recognition for what they accomplish.
• Give students your full attention. Listening may seem like a small thing. However, full attention is one of the most powerful expressions of respect and gratitude we can offer. Too few students regularly experience the undivided attention of adults in their lives.
• Watch for and acknowledge quiet “difference makers.” Notice students who help others without being asked, who work consistently without frequent reminding, or who are peacemakers within the class. These are students who often make our lives easier and work more impactful but rarely receive recognition or are offered gratitude.
• Thank students who teach us. Taking time to note when a student’s question makes us reflect, shift our assumptions, or adjust our perceptions can send a powerful message of gratitude. Students rarely assume that what they do or say changes the way a teacher thinks or acts.
• Say “please” and “thank you.” These may seem to be small, even incidental elements in our interactions with students. However, they carry a message of respect and civility. Common courtesy can carry a note of gratitude and thoughtfulness in a world that students often experience as harsh and thoughtless.

We should not be surprised if we find students responding to our gratitude with thankfulness of their own. Students may not say it—or even realize it—but we are important people in their lives. Our appreciation for them and recognition of their importance to us can send a powerful message and have an outsized impact on how they see themselves.

We know that feedback is a crucial element in learning, especially when learning is challenging, multi-staged, and requires practice and application. Effective feedback reinforces progress, clarifies crucial learning components, lights the path forward, and propels persistence.

However, feedback that fuels learning requires a careful combination of art and skill. It must be provided in close enough proximity to learning efforts for learners to recall their thinking and actions during learning attempts. Feedback needs to be specific enough for students to understand its importance and potential impact. Further, feedback that reinforces learning needs to be objective, not colored by judgement or assumptions. Finally, the feedback we provide must give the learner information they need to take the next steps in learning.

While these elements of feedback may seem clear—even obvious—feedback often falls short in its ability to motivate and support learning when educators fail to heed several factors.  Let’s explore five of these common mistakes and how to fix them.

Mistake #1: Overloading the amount of feedback. We might think that students need to be informed of everything in the work they did worthy of note or in need of improvement. However, learners are limited in the amount of working memory they can manage at any time. Providing students with too much feedback can lead to students ignoring all or the most important feedback we provide.

Fix: Focus on the elements of student work that, if adjusted, would make the greatest difference. Even though we can provide extensive feedback, overloading will not improve learning. If we are concerned that a parent or others might criticize us for not catching every error, we might indicate with our feedback that it is targeted and not all-inclusive.

Mistake #2: Neglecting to connect feedback to learning goals. The presence of learning goals helps us and our students to focus, measure progress, and understand what still needs to be learned. Obviously, the most powerful learning goals include the participation of students in their development and can play a significant role in stimulating and tracking learning progress. Helping students to see progress and understand what lies ahead are important elements of feedback with impact.

Fix: Keep learning goals visible and active in feedback conversations. If established learning goals seem too far off, we may need to break down next steps to help students see how progress can be achieved, even if there is significant distance yet to be traveled.

Mistake #3: Feedback is overweighted with negative information. When students hear what feels like mostly bad news, they can become discouraged and give up rather than use the information to adjust and improve. Feedback that has a productive impact is carefully weighted to provide an accurate picture, while instilling hope for success.

Fix: We can choose our words and focus with the student’s perspective and perception in mind. We gain little by having students feel “buried.” Students also need to hear where they are making progress and what they are doing well. While we may need to share information that suggests the need for improvement, we can do so while sharing our confidence that the student will be successful and that we are committed to helping them to find their way forward.

Mistake #4: Feedback conversations do not include student response opportunities. Telling students where they are showing progress and sharing areas in need of improvement are only parts of effective feedback interactions. Unless students contribute to the conversation, they are unlikely to feel ownership for the feedback they receive. Further, we are not likely to know what students understand, how they react to what they hear, and whether they are committed to using the feedback we provide.

Fix: Give students ample opportunities to share their understanding, areas of confusion, insights about their learning, and to commit to applying the feedback they receive. Depending on the nature of situation we might even invite students to share their perspectives and ideas before we share feedback. In any case, once we have provided feedback, we need to give students opportunities to reflect and clarify what they have heard and discuss what they will do with it.

Mistake #5: Failing to follow up after providing feedback. We might think that once we have provided students with feedback on their learning attempts that we can move on to other things. However, students may find that what they try following our feedback isn’t working, they fail to recall what they heard, or they encounter a challenge that was not discussed in the feedback conversation. Failing to check in and reinforce the feedback we share risks compromising the impact of our efforts and could result in students giving up in frustration. 

Fix: Make a mental or physical note to follow up and reinforce feedback as students attempt to implement what they have learned. Once students have tried to apply the feedback they received, we might briefly touch base to see if they have any questions, inquire if they are making progress, and observe the results of new learning attempts. Our check-in not only helps to determine the impact of our feedback, but it also sends a message to students that we are interested and ready to continue to support their learning.  

Feedback is a powerful tool to support learning. However, it requires more than telling students where they have fallen short and what they need to do to improve. The best feedback is a conversation that builds understanding, instills hope, and stimulates further learning.

Language is a powerful tool for communicating information, concepts, and perspectives. Consequently, we need to exercise care and caution to be certain that what we say conveys the meaning we intend and avoids misinterpretation. This advice may seem obvious. Yet, it can be easy to fall into habits of speech and employ phrases and terms that may not fully or accurately convey what we mean.

We may use certain words and descriptors as informal shortcuts to express emotions and perceptions. They may be well intended, but they can still create confusion, lead to over-generalizations, and reflect meanings that we do not intend. It can be worthwhile to pause occasionally to review some of the terms and phrases we use and consider whether we would do well to avoid or accompany them with explanations or qualifiers. Here are five common education-related terms that might fall into this category.

Drill and kill.

This term is often used to describe practice repetitions, yet not all practice is bad. In fact, practice plays a crucial role in developing expertise. Approaches such as distributed and deliberate practice are key to building high-level skill development and learning retention. At the same time, subjecting students to mind-numbing, seemingly endless drills can undermine motivation and diminish engagement. It is not drills that kill, it is the failure to make practice purposeful, engaging, and useful.

Better terms: purposeful practice, distributed practice, and deliberate practice.

Sit and get.

This phrase is frequently used to describe lecture-based, low-engagement instruction. While passive learning often leads to lack of depth in understanding and absence of learning retention, there remains a role for direct, explicit instruction. Explicit instruction can be a highly useful way to explain new information, set a context for learning, and clarify areas of confusion and misconception.

Better terms: direct instruction, explicit instruction, and responsive teaching.

Learning styles.

This term has been used to describe the concept that students learn best when instruction was presented in the way that matches how students learn best (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic). However, multiple research studies have shown that matching teaching with learning styles does not increase learning. In fact, overreliance on perceived learning styles can limit the amount of learning skills students choose to develop and rely on. A more effective approach is to utilize a variety of modes of instruction when introducing content and nurturing new skills. Generally, the more ways in which students are exposed to new information, the more likely they are to learn and remember.

Better terms: dual coding, learning preferences, and multiple modes of engagement.

Remedial instruction.

This term implies a focus on student learning deficits. It implies that the student is the problem and must be remediated. However, lack of expected learning progress can be the result of many factors. This focus can result in efforts to “fix” the learner rather than discover and build on strengths and target areas in need of support. Unfortunately, remedial education too often features a slower pace for learning when pace may not be the primary cause of the problem. Additionally, remedial instruction frequently engages learners at superficial levels of learning that lack motivating elements and interest-generating experiences.

Better terms: targeted instruction, strategic learning support, and essential skill development.

Ability grouping.

This description implies that we can know students’ abilities. Yet, abilities are complex and varied. We can gauge the skills students are able to demonstrate and their levels of academic performance, but we are not likely to know our students’ full abilities with certainty. Unfortunately, when we group students based on what we assume to be ability, students interpret our judgment of them as being smart or being dumb. Such decisions and interpretations can have lifelong, unjustified consequences. Meanwhile, some students may be very bright but not appear so because they require more time to process and analyze before presenting an answer or solution. It is also true that students included in high ability groupings often are fast learners, not necessarily expert learners.

Better terms: flexible grouping, skill-based grouping, and learning readiness grouping.

We want our words to accurately convey our intentions. Consequently, we need to be careful to select words and phrases that are not likely to result in confusion or misinterpretation. Are there words and phrases you might add to this list as having high potential to be misunderstood or could lead to incorrect interpretations?

We might think of resilience as the ability to tolerate and survive adversity. Finding our way through difficult times is important. However, framing resilience as just getting by can lead us to ignore important dimensions and opportunities often found in adverse and challenging circumstances whether we are a teacher, administrator, or other member of the school team.

Resilience does not have to be a means to get past or get through difficult experiences. It can be the strategy we use to transform how we see our circumstances, discover opportunities within adversity, and a means to resurface with even more confidence and competence as a person and as a professional.

Rather than seeing resilience as solely the capacity to respond, we might think of it as a strategy for reframing our thinking and choosing our response. In fact, we might think of resilience as powered by four factors over which we have control, attitude, gratitude, fortitude, and aptitude. Let’s unpack these four factors and examine how they can shift our thinking and empower us to come back stronger after negative experiences, challenging circumstances, or adverse conditions.

Our attitude empowers our resilience. Attitude is a choice. It is the mindset we bring to life’s challenges. Our attitude is our interpretation of what we face and the story we tell ourselves about what is real and what is possible. When we choose a positive, “can do” attitude we do not deny difficulty. Instead, we open the possibility for growth and opportunity. Our attitude can be the difference between what we see as a dead end and what we perceive as a temporary detour. Our attitude can reframe the setbacks we experience as problems to solve and lessons to learn rather than personal or professional failures.

Our gratitude grounds our resilience. Gratitude helps us to appreciate what we have even when we may not have or be experiencing what we want. Gratitude helps us to remain balanced when not everything is going our way. Gratitude supports and preserves our relationships despite pressure and strain. When we are grateful, we can find silver linings in the face of difficulty without being naïve or dismissing the difficulties we confront. Gratitude helps us to maintain hope and prepares us to bounce back as circumstances change.

Our fortitude drives our resilience. Fortitude is the grit to act despite difficulty. Fortitude is the willpower to persist despite pressure, barriers, and setbacks. Fortitude keeps us going when our motivation dips and our energy ebbs. Fortitude can be as simple as deciding to keep walking and working despite the detours and distractions we face. Fortitude is focusing on next steps and doable actions that will move us forward, even if it is a small amount.

Our aptitude defines and draws on the skills we need to build our resilience. Resilience is not just an emotional response. Resilience involves gaining an objective understanding. Resilience is solving problems and finding answers. Resilience is leveraging our strengths, being smart in the effort and strategies we deploy, and accessing the resources available to us. Resilience is made up of skills we can learn and hone. Difficult times can be rich opportunities for learning, skill-building, and practice. Our aptitude for resilience is built on knowing ourselves, building our confidence, and honing our competence.

We can choose to see hope and possibility in the circumstances we face. We can continue to appreciate what we have even when what we want may be difficult to achieve. We can choose to act and persist even when circumstances challenge us. And we can use the adversity we face to define the skills we need, build the capacity to succeed, and emerge stronger, wiser, and ready to lead.

Not everything that is relevant today is new. Also, not everything that is useful with students originated in education. An excellent example of this observation is a reflection process developed for healthcare professionals several decades ago. Despite how long it has been around, it remains a useful tool to stimulate and guide reflection activities. It is deceptively simple, but surprisingly powerful. The process consists of just three questions:

• What?
• So what? 
• Now what?

This question sequence provides a useful way to organize thoughts, consider implications, and decide next steps. The reflection process works by breaking down information into useful parts. It also clarifies relevance of the topic being considered. Finally, it encourages individuals to take action because of the reflection.

We can use the reflection tool to help students reflect on and learn from conflict, missteps, or misbehavior. Students might use this tool to understand the significance of their effort and persistence in the face of an academic challenge, or to help them reflect on and better understand their behavior in a relationship. Let’s unpack these questions and explore how they might be used to guide and support student reflection activities regardless of topic, subject, or experience.

“What?” focuses on the experience, event, or interaction. In the first step, students describe what happened. They isolate the facts of the matter by recounting what they observed. Students may describe an assignment or project they were engaged in. They may reflect on an event in which they participated. They may recount a conversation, argument, or something they heard. They also detail the role they played in what happened.

Our coaching role during this step of the reflection process is to have students be clear, concrete, and concise. The key is to help students begin their reflection with reality, not what they assume or imagine.

“So what?” engages students in interpreting, analyzing, and contextualizing what happened. In the second step, students describe why the experience, event, or interaction was important. They may discuss why they reacted as they did. They might recount how they felt as the situation unfolded. They may even provide context that explains why they found the experience to matter. Further, students might provide history of a relationship, a struggle to complete a task, or an analysis of their behavior. Finally, this step asks students to consider what they learned through the experience.

Our coaching in this step is to help students to recall what they felt, how they reacted, and what they learned. We may need to ask nudging questions to help students find their way through emotions, assumptions, and other distractions that get in the way while making sense of what they experienced.

“Now what?” focuses student attention on the implications of the experience and future actions. In the third step, students ask themselves what they would do differently if they encountered the same circumstances, challenges, or interactions in the future. They might draw on what they discovered in the second step of the process to determine how they can adjust their thinking and behavior. Students also may find that there are skills and information they need to learn to help them complete this phase. Depending on the situation, students may plan the next steps they will take to resolve the situation or how they will reengage in a project or task. They might even develop a script to use in resolving a conflict.

Our coaching at this stage of the process is to encourage commitment and to help students define, determine, and deploy the steps or strategies they will use to move forward. Students may need our insights and ideas to help them figure out what they will say and what actions they will take.

These three questions may seem simple—even obvious. However, when deployed with thought and commitment, they can generate powerful insights and lead to significant changes in thinking and behavior.

We typically think of resilience as finding our way through a difficult experience or time, recovering, and being able to move past the experience. We may carry some “scars” with us from the experience, but we assume that returning to where we were before is success. Yet, settling for the ability to endure and survive leaves us where we started with little benefit to show from the experience.

As unpleasant as uncertainty, challenges, and change can be, they do not have to break us or even leave us where we were before they emerged. Adversity can be an important opportunity and stimulus for growth and learning. We might look to nature to understand the benefits of approaching challenges with an adaptive mindset. We know that when we stress our muscles in strength training, we become stronger. Trees exposed to persistent, vigorous wind develop stronger, deeper root structures. The stress of forest and grass fires stimulate new plant growth. When predators are introduced to ecosystems, other animals develop greater awareness, avoidance, defense, and escape skills.

Author Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, describes three general response options to stress, challenge, and uncertainty:

• Fragile: Unprepared, unaware, inflexible systems and people are likely to break under stress. Rather than endure, they give in to the pressure and abandon the struggle. Adversity leaves them weaker, less able to deal with stress, and with diminished ability to confront the next challenge.
• Resilient: Strong, durable systems and people focus on managing, enduring, and surviving. Their goal is to “live to fight another day,” but not necessarily adjust or improve because of the experience. Adversity generally leaves them where they started: standing, but not stronger or wiser.
• Antifragile: Flexible, adaptive, responsive systems and people view uncertainty, adversity, and pressure as opportunities to learn, adapt, innovate, and grow. Returning to normal following challenging times is not their goal. Becoming stronger, becoming better able to adapt and adjust, and building toward new levels of skill and success are their intended “takeaways” from these experiences. 

When conditions change, new elements are introduced to our world, or new challenges emerge, we can choose to give in and abandon the struggle, endure and survive, or adapt, learn, and grow. The course we choose can have lasting effects on our personal and professional lives.

Certainly, there are times when choosing to fight is futile, or committing to hang on is the best we can do. However, the greatest upside potential lies in leveraging difficult experiences to learn, grow, adjust, and thrive. The question is: How can we make the best use of challenging experiences and emerge wiser, stronger, and ready for what lies ahead? Consider these seven strategies as places to start:

• Interrogate adversity to find lessons you can learn. The lessons you learn may not only be useful now, but they may be good preparation for the future.
• Consider the challenge as an opportunity to innovate. Now can be a time to try something new.
• Explore what beliefs or assumptions may be getting in your way or holding you back. Try flipping your perceptions about the situation and see what new insights emerge.
• Examine the strategies and approaches that appear to be working for others. They may have discovered something that will be useful to you.
• Revisit something you tried that did not work.  Often the “seeds of success” can be found in efforts and attempts that did not fully produce desired results.
• Accept that you hold the power to choose how you will respond regardless of what you face. Embrace the power you have.
• Ask yourself, “What would I do if I were not afraid?” Fear can keep us from considering options and solutions that may involve risk but also hold significant promise.

Adversity is a natural part of life. We will face it regardless of whether we choose or deserve it. The question for us is how we will respond. We can give in, tolerate, or leverage these experiences. The choice we make can make a significant difference to our confidence, sense of control, and ability to deal with what the future holds.

Resource: Taleb, N. (2012). Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder. Random House.

We dedicate significant time and energy to preparation for the start of a new school year. Our attention is focused on arranging materials and equipment, learning everything we can about our students, setting the stage for the first several days, and hoping that all will go well. Predictably, not everything goes as planned. There are pleasant surprises, some unexpected challenges, and other “wrinkles” in our plans and expectations with which we need to deal.

As we move beyond the initial phase of structuring, expectation setting, and getting to know our students, our attention shifts to how well our early efforts are taking hold and our students are responding, and whether we are on track for sustainable success. Of course, we probably have a sense for how things are going, but it can also be helpful to have some signs and signals to monitor and assess our progress. Here are seven indicators we can consider.

Students greet us easily and positively as they enter the classroom. Eye contact, smiles, and verbal greetings are signs that students are comfortable with us, and positive relationships are forming. Of course, we need to be positioned to have them comfortably encounter us by standing at the door, greeting students by name, or otherwise positioning ourselves to welcome students.

Students are following established routines and transitions are smooth. It is a good sign if we are spending less time managing behavior and more time is available for instruction, discussion, reflection, and practice. Of course, behavior management will always be necessary. It is the gradual shift in balance that is important to monitor.

Students remind each other of classroom rules, expectations, and routines. Once students understand and are confident in what is expected of them and their behavior, they can be quick to notice when other students ignore or do not follow established norms. This behavior can be a sign that students are no longer relying entirely on us to enforce expectations and classroom culture is forming.

Students are active participants in class discussions and activities. As students become more comfortable and confident, they are more likely to ask questions and seek help when necessary. We can also monitor the levels of enthusiasm and engagement students show during activities.

Students are connecting with classmates. Obviously, some students will have existing friendships and students may be making new friends. Our attention needs to extend to whether we see obvious cliques forming, conflicts emerging, or efforts to exclude classmates.

Students generally submit assignments and complete tasks on time. Our monitoring might focus on whether students are giving adequate attention to detail and are striving to produce quality work. When students are demonstrating good work habits, time management, and organizational skills, the stage is set for a successful year.

Students seem willing to take learning risks, tolerate mistakes, and accept feedback. As the cadence of the school year settles in, we can begin to observe how students see themselves as learners. Confident learners are more likely to accept risks and mistakes as part of the learning process, while uncertain and reluctant learners are more likely to avoid risks and see mistakes as evidence of their lack of ability. How well students accept and use feedback can be a key indicator of how well students see themselves and are likely to grow as learners. 

A good start to the school year makes the remainder of the term or year better. Continuing to build and sustain momentum is much easier than trying to establish connections, create focus, and build culture once negative patterns are set.

A final thought: If you are part of a co-teaching or other type of instructional team, it is important to set consistent expectations and provide consistent responses when students need reminding and redirection. If adults are not on the same page, students will quickly notice, and some may choose to exploit the situation to our detriment.