Monitoring and adjusting. Monitoring
and adjusting. That's what I tell myself repeatedly when I stand in
front of my class realizing that the minutes are slowly ticking by
and I have yet to cover all of the material I had planned for today.
How am I going to cram all of this in? What if they don't know the
material yet? What if we don't get through everything we need to get
through? What do I do? I take a deep breath, smile, and crack a joke.
We laugh together as my brilliant distraction bides me enough time to
quickly think of a means to cover everything. Then it occurs to me.
Of course! It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if the student didn't
fill in the appropriate graphic organizer. It doesn't matter if the
assessment I originally planned for today must be tweaked to fit the
unanticipated adjustment. It is more important that my students
understand and practice this new material and feel confident in their
abilities to tackle these new concepts before bombarding them with
more concepts. What matters the most is their abilities and their
skills. It is more important to adjust the lesson and adapt it to the
needs of my students. As a teacher, I need to be able to recognize
when to slow down and allow students the time to practice and develop
their new skills. Scaffolding they call it. What learning looks like,
I call it.
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