If slowing the pace of school to improve teaching and learning sounds like an idea that makes sense to you, read on.
It may sound good to try slowing down, but it’s easier said than done. While we wish as teachers and administrators that we had more time to breathe and could make that possible for our students, we actually may be becoming “speed addicts” in the work environment of school, feeding on the idea that doing our jobs well means cramming as much into each day as possible.
While we constantly complain about not having enough time to do this, we are actually always looking for ways to do things faster and cannot easily tolerate slowing down. (How do you feel when your computer isn’t keeping up with your need for “fast”?)
Are we meant to live and learn and teach at this rapid pace, and what if all the children we are teaching turn into adults who end up living lives with no time for reflection?
How will we teach the children about the value of reflective practice if we just teach them to “Drop Everything And Read” but don’t muse together about their reading? In my school independent reading, sadly, is not easily tolerated by a significant number of children. It requires slowing down.
How can we teach our children about interludes, not just getting from one place to another in orderly fashion as part of something we euphemistically call transitions?
How will we model and teach meaningful relationships with others if we are unable to provide significant and clearly structured time for them as part of our academic approach in the classroom?
So many teachers and parents seem concerned with children’s current inability to persevere, to stay with a task and get a job done well. Yet watch them at their video games where the reinforcement and feedback is immediate. What relational feedback are we building into our school day?
Where is the time for reflection?
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Darren,
I also work in NOVA and we are under the same crazy stress for the SOLs. My school has embraced the RC approach and most of our teachers have morning meetings and do a great job reflecting with their classes. We made AYP this year although most schools with our population did not. I truly believe that RC is part of our school success. We refused to give up what we knew works for our children. (Can you tell I’m proud of us?)
If Google offers their employees 20% of their time to explore new ideas and reflect, why can’t our schools? We also have teacher research so teachers can be out of the classroom for half a day once a month to explore new ideas and reflect on what is working. It has been incredible for our teachers!
Being sure to build in time for reflective conversation with students at the end of an instructional period is a way to informally assess their understanding of what they have just been taught, as well as to build a learning community. All this helps to strengthen academic perfomance including SOL scores. See Sara Rimm Kaufman’s research listed on the RC website for confirmation. Your instincts and insights are on the right track. Keep practicing what you know to mee the needs of children! Chip Wood
I currently reside and teach in Northern Virginia where the number one priority in our schools seems to be scoring as high as possible on the state’s SOL exams. My colleagues regularly lament the the fact that there is too much curriculum to cover in too little time. Before moving to Virginia I worked at a school in Vermont that embraced The Responsive Classroom model. I miss the sense of community that was nurtured in my old school and the time that we took to reflect with students and teachers alike. I have been trying to spread the word about Morning Meetings and regularly invite teachers to join ours. I hope that at least a few teachers will see the value and climb on board.