If you had asked me that question one year ago today, I would have told you that both teaching and learning are equally important. I would have stressed that without teaching, learning can't take place. I would have fought tooth and nail for that fact, because in reality, I searched for validation through my aptitude for designing and delivering a great lesson. I'll be the first to admit that I like to be the center of attention, so it felt great to be "running the show" in front of my class everyday. (That's not to say I wasn't a great teacher or didn't do a fantastic job, because I did!)
Luckily for my students, I learned to get out of my own way. This amazing teacher I worked with last year told me that she "spent more time worrying about what the students would be learning" rather than what she would be teaching. I interpreted her statement to mean that I shouldn't concern myself with being the focus of the lesson. The students should be taking matters into their own hands--practicing, working, thinking, talking, assessing, connecting, and challenging their own learning. I grappled with this idea over the summer and pushed out of my comfort zone as I reflected over the previous school year. The most important question I answered was, "How can I shift the focus from my teaching onto the students' learning?"
I'm happy to report that I can now describe--in detail--what shifting the focus looks like. For starters, I spend maybe 5-10 minutes per subject talking in front of the whole class. Fifteen minutes is really pushing it. From that point on, my students are working and I stay out of their way. Of course, I'm there to help, I'm there to conference or to intervene, but otherwise I'm just some old lady in the classroom. The kids are the superstars. Their brains are working harder, creating stronger connections and soaking up more new material than I could have ever planned for in one of my old "look-at-me" lessons.
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