The importance of being a learner

A Veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days- a sobering lesson learned

Today I sat down in the staff room, took 10 minutes and read this article.

I am quite relieved to say that I believe I employ many of these strategies within my teaching or at the very least, I am aware of the detrimental effects that lack of empathy or understanding can have on the students.

Key Takeaway # 1

Students sit all day, and sitting is exhausting.

Key Takeaway # 2

High school students are sitting passively and listening during approximately 90% of their classes.

I must admit that my subject areas lend themselves to being mobile and practical. Saying that, as an English language teacher, I learned to make (often content heavy) activities bitesize and varying whilst allowing the students to be mobile and interact. English language teaching could involve simply completing worksheet after worksheet or... it could involve loads of short activities where people actively mingle and try out the content in different ways to check understanding and practise the subject matter. This is a great strategy to increase engagement and promote active learning. Other benefits include building social intelligence, establishing a safe environment and just generally allowing the body to move more. My experience teaching in summer camps has really proven the value of these strategies, as these learners were predominantly there to have fun.

I remember in my first placement, my associate teacher suggested that I bring some of my English language teaching strategies to DVC. It has been great, especially when dealing with subject specific vocabulary or technological knowledge.

Key Takeaway # 3

You feel a little bit like a nuisance all day long.

This brings me back to the importance of empathy and understanding. Yes, we are always learning but how many times recently have you really been a learner with no or little prior knowledge?

I remember moving to Barcelona with a GCSE in Spanish that I had obtained 7 years prior, thinking that would be adequate. When I arrived and couldn't even order a cheese sandwich, I was hit with the realisation that this wouldn't be as easy as I thought. There were times when I would get flustered when confronted with strangers who would look rather frustrated at my lack of understanding and repeat themselves JUST LOUDER and ssllowwerr.

I'm not deaf, I don't understand the words you're using.

And the times you're invited out to meet new people in a situation where everyone is speaking Spanish, and you come across introvert and quiet because you can't keep up.

I'm not really introvert nor quiet.

I believe this experience made me a better English Language teacher. I could empathise and would understand that just like me, the students may need things repeated 7, 10, 20 times over. I also focussed on creating a safe learning environment where I promoted the idea of trying things and getting it wrong. I remember asking for 10 old ladies for a table when really I wanted 10 journeys for a month. I learnt that 'having a go' was important, and realised that the world wasn't going to implode if you made a mistake.

There have been situations I have actively put myself in, partly because I know the importance of being a learner.

Recently I did a one day course in coding. It was actually horrible. It was for beginners but the words they were using were so unfamiliar and jargony, that when they asked for questions I didn't know where to start. I felt quite anxious. They were very nice and helpful when I was open about how I felt and we did share some geeky jokes. It didn't help that I had my Spanish laptop, so that when one of the gentlemen was helping me, I had to hunt down the simbolo de sistema instead of the command prompt.

I think we forget that some of our students really have no or little prior knowledge. Sometimes we are so passionate, involved, expert in our subject that we can't remember a time when we didn't know what the word render meant. This has helped me to really step back and analyse my content and know to deconstruct elements and present things in a way that isn't so daunting.

#Professionallearning