Stupid little things

Hello everyone,

Jeff Moreton, a compatriot at Garfield High School, and I were talking today about the sorts of things that were helpful when we first started teaching. Jeff called them the "stupid little things" that make a difference.

It's true that even the smallest thing can make a difference in the classroom. As we get older, we often forget the little things that help us keep control of a classroom or deliver instruction more effectively.

Jeff talked about that panicky feeling that you might have at the beginning of a day, and the question, "Oh no, what am I going to teach?" (This is assuming that your carefully laid plans have not worked out as you planned--not assuming that you neglected to plan and you're not ready at all.) Jeff said that it was helpful for him to consciously change the question from "What am I going to teach?" to "What are they going to learn?" For him, that slight attitude change made all the difference.

Little things.

I found that I could control my own attitude in a variety of ways that were helpful to my teaching, and when I struggled with teaching, it was often because I allowed my attitude to drift. If I blamed the awful students, or if I raged against the bureaucracy, or if I got angry over little things, it was usually because I had neglected to control the overall attitude. I don't mean to say that the kids aren't sometimes rotten, or the bureaucracy intransigent, or the world provoking. I just mean that allowing those things to affect the attitude made teaching harder and less enjoyable.

One little thing that you can never forget is to constantly evaluate your own practice. Make sure you do this in light of the students' learning. After you finish a lesson, ask yourself how it went: how was management? how well did the students understand? how interested were they? how excited are they to come back? how tired are you? Evaluate. Never stop reviewing and evaluating your own practice. Be ready to change when things aren't working, or when things are stale, or when you find a better way.

But never forget the basics; and never forget the little things that make a difference.

Jeff Combe