Blog post #1
In life we are told it is important to know about and to travel the middle path - the middle way- a balanced life. But what is balance? What is the middle path in life? What is the middle path in life especially when educating and working with kids?
Educators nourish wisdom and promote wisdom and awareness in our students. We know it is important to care about our students and be supportive of and have compassion for them (one side of the path) and we know it is equally important to have a challenging and rigorous curriculum full of wisdom (the other side of the path) especially today with curricular and pedagogical practices where both students and teachers are assessed and evaluated.
Can educators have too much compassion and be too caring and be too supportive and not have enough rigor? Can educators have a curriculum and pedagogical practices too rigorous and challenging and have little or no compassion or student support? Can educators walk the balanced middle path of being supporting and challenging?
I was thinking about this concept and practice the other day while walking my two dogs – Lizzie who is 4.5 pounds and Schooner who is 9.5 pounds. Frequently we walk a common path and we travel the dog walk path mutually comfortable, happy and in harmony.
But sometimes Lizzie is pulling on her lease and me one way and wants to go that direction (caring – supportive) but Schooner has no intention of going that way and is pulling his lease and me the other direction (rigor, challenge, assessment). And there are the three of us – at a stand still – not being able to travel the dog walk path. So, I have to determine a middle path to balance Lizzie and Schooner and their wants and needs on our daily walks.
Educators need to balance our daily dog walks between the needs and wants of our Lizzie and Schooner. Every day is a new day with some familiar paths on our walks in our classrooms and other days there are new adventures and expectations on our walks in our classrooms. As an educator, everyday, I have to make sure the middle path with my classes and students is met as I do on my daily walks with Lizzie and Schooner seeking a middle path and a balanced walk where we are in harmony.
How do you now or how will you meet the balanced middle path of Lizzie (compassion – support – caring) and Schooner (wisdom, rigor and challenge) in your classes? How do you seek harmony between being caring and supportive and providing rigor and challenge? Please provide specific ideas and practices not generic ideas of how you provide a middle path in with your classes and with your students?
If you do not think in terms of the middle path provide your position of how you work currently or plan to work within your classes and with your students.
Blog post #2
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12 comments:
Checking in to tell you that I like this post you have put up on the middle way. The Eastern religions, mainly Buddhism, would very much agree with the "middle way" because nothing in life anything but suffering.
I like the ideas of the middle way. The Buddhist teachings, along with multiple other Eastern philosophies, would agree with this. You need both sides to everything. You cannot have joy without pain, love without hate, etc. An educator must be both the as the Serbs say, "bog i batina" which is loosely translated as "the savior and the whip." Above all, educators must be fair because students will always respond to equality and fairness to all.
Finding balance in the classroom is equally important for students and teachers. While it is important for teachers to be compassionate and caring toward their students, it is also important for teachers to challenge students, set specific standards / expectations of the classroom, and help them understand the consequences or outcomes of their actions. All of this must be established from day one and the teacher must be consistent.
For a lot of students, the middle school years are a time for self-discovery, rebellion, and crucial learning, and is the awkward transitional period between childhood and young adulthood. At this age, students are trying to figure out who they are in context to the world around them, and are struggling to find balance in their life as well. There is an interesting shift of values and morals that occurs during these years- students are figuring out where they belong, who they trust, what they believe, etc. It is important for teachers to be aware of this transition, and be supportive of each student trying to make sense of the world.
As someone without any formal instruction or legit experience with teaching, the question of how to maintain balance in my own classroom is something that I’ve always thought about. It is up to the teacher to establish the foundation for balance, which includes showing mutual respect, establishing disciplinary actions, setting clear expectations for the year, and not forgetting to find fun ways to keep learning challenging and exciting. Because the middle school years are a time of self-discovery and identity formation, I would try to create fun, yet challenging, activities that allow students to pull in their own personal experiences and relate it back to each lesson. For example, one of my favorite projects in middle school was to read a book and create a CD and playlist relating to the topic or themes presented. I remember really liking the idea of researching some of my favorite songs- including the lyrics and any historical information- and incorporating it in a school project. I was really able to connect with the project and have a better understanding of the lesson.
Building a solid relationship with the class is an important first step to finding balance. I’m also a firm believer that ‘knowing’ your students makes teaching them not only easier, but also more effective. It’s also important for students to feel like they know their teacher and can trust them - most of the kids that age already feel like the world is against them, so why feed into that? However, it is important for teachers to keep certain aspects of their personal lives private, as children this age are very impressionable and take things to heart. The goal is to be a positive role model, while providing structure, enforcing disciplinary action, and making learning fun.
I think it’s important to understand the group dynamic of the classroom, in addition to the individual students that make up the group. It’s important for my students to know that I’m here to be fair, and to help them become responsible, intelligent and caring individuals in society. I do not want to have a ‘free for all’ class where students feel like they can take advantage of me, but I also do not want to have such a strict class where students are afraid to be open and have fun. As each classroom dynamic is different, it is up to me to pinpoint the various personalities and learning styles, and adjust my teaching style accordingly. For example, if I have an unusually rowdy class one year, I’ll have to adjust my teaching style, while still being fair, and perhaps set higher disciplinary standards / consequences. Or, if I have a shy class, I’ll have to create activities where students can work in small teams and build up their confidence, or maybe even be extra ‘silly’ to show the kids that we’re here to have fun AND learn.
Understanding how important balance is, I look forward to continuing the graduate program, and learning all about finding balance and maintaining control of the classroom.
I am a Libra. I am always practicing the middle road. I want my students to be comfortable and well rounded. Somedays we work from the text or workbook. Other days we do audio activities. Other days we create an artifact..ie: a Spanish speaking countries flag or and acrostic. We sing and dance and play games all the time. I modify my assignments year after year. The middle road is a good place to be. Sometimes you can be successful taking another path. Other times it can be a disaster. All is well because regardless, something has been learned. You have added to your schema base, and you can pull from that for future experiences.
A teacher once told me that it is as important to be well read as it is to be well rounded in life experiences. This is how I look at the middle way idea. The well read path is the articulation of goals and curriculum. Students need to have an articulated path and understand this path. Teachers present the path in their classroom and in their teachings. It is because of the experiences in life that we become well rounded individuals. As a teacher it is important that I give my students experiences that will help them to be well read and well rounded.
The challenge is how do we engage students and connect the teaching of curriculum to their every day lives? I found that the best lessons during my student teaching experience revolved around connecting history to the 2010 experiences of my 8th grade students. Music was a great connection and it was open to individual interpretation. I also believe that using pictures and videos allows the student to visualize and hear about historical events. You Tube can be a great tool to show actual footage, as of the Viet Nam war, plus it offered the music of the time period. I like to use primary documents on a limited basis. Some primary documents are difficult to read and could limit learning for some students. These materials help me achieve the well read part of my equation.
It is more difficult to teach students to be well rounded. I think classroom management, particularly emphasis on respect of others is the best way to approach the goal of a well rounded student, some might say contributing member of society. I plan to incorporate a philanthropic unit in my teaching. When you show students how them can make a difference and then help them to select an issue where they can practice this learning, they will be more engaged with learning.
As a teacher it is great to have a plan but I know that being flexible each day and showing students you are willing to work with them is most important.
It is certain that the only way to achieve balance is by staying in the middle path. I am just beginning on my path toward becoming a teacher, so I have neither a current method to meet balanced middle path in my classroom nor had I even stopped to consider it.
As I begin to think about it, my mind immediately goes to my family. As a parent I have to maintain the balance of the middle path. I have to be loving, nurturing, and supportive of my children (the gentle side of the path) and at the same time I have to lead them, challenge them and discipline them (the tough side of the path). For me the soft side is easier because it feels the most natural, but the tough side is equally important. It’s easy for me to love and support my kids because I live for it. I also enjoy leading and challenging them. As for the discipline part of it, well that’s not any fun. However, it’s important and comes with the job and is part of the education of life. If I attempt to simply walk on one side of the path in raising my children something will certainly go wrong. I like to keep things very loose and fun with my kids, but I have to also be able to maintain order or it gets a little chaotic. I like to challenge them; sometimes they don’t like it at first, but more often they will respond positively in the end.
It’s still early for me to predict exactly how I will strike the balance in my classroom. When I was in school I enjoyed it when teachers used games, humor and “reality” in teaching. The teachers I enjoyed the most were the ones that really got into what they were teaching. They were typically the ones that would use games, had a good sense of humor, told great stories that related to subject matter (even if most of them were clearly embellished) and really attempted to engage and get to know their students. Those teachers taught and cared. These were the classes where I learned the most. My approach to teaching will be the same.
Finding the middle path as an educator can be difficult. If you are too understanding and compassionate, students will often take advantage of you. This happened to me when I was understanding of students forgetting their homework. I would give them an extra day, which turned into two extra days, which turned into three...Soon I spent more time chasing down student work than planning my lessons. That is when I knew the balance was off and I needed to push students to take responsibility of their educations and their lives. I did this by not allowing them to do the more exciting work (like dissections) until all of their other work was caught up. It was amazing how quick all of the missing homework arrived and was not as much of an issue anymore. Sometimes I felt bad being so strict about turning in assignments but I realized that if I spend less time chasing down students for their work, I have more time to plan meaningful lessons that will challenge students to reach their full potential.
I think that achieving a balanced middle path in the middle school classroom can be, and will be, a challenge. One way to help make a balanced middle path is by establishing a classroom environment of respect. From day one, the teacher needs to explain what his or her definition of respect is to the students and have the students share what respect means to them. Having the students help establish the guidelines for respect and classroom behavior should help the classroom be an environment of support and one where students can learn. Another way to help achieve a balanced path is for a teacher to make himself or herself available to students during lunch or after school and making sure students know they can come to the teacher. I think that students are more willing to participate and cooperate with teachers when they know the teacher cares about students. Middle school can be a challenging time for students, so teachers need to strategically group students when working in small groups or group projects. By strategically grouping students, the teacher helps ensure that petty arguments and bullying during class time are kept to a minimum. This is another important part of maintaining a balanced path. Another idea that I think would help keep a balanced middle path in the classroom is by implementing a means of self-grading for students. For example, on the back of a quiz have students give a grade on how they felt they participated, did their homework, asked questions, prepared, etc. This self-reflection will help show the students you care about their opinion and that their input matters. In order to achieve a balanced middle path it will be important to be firm, yet caring, flexible, yet not allowing the students to walk all over you. I think that the ideas above can help establish that balance.
This will be a challenge for me as a first year teacher. Actually I think it will be a challenge for me as a 20 year teacher too. I think finding the balance in a classroom will vary from class to class and from year to year. However, specifically the first year will be challenging because I do not have previous experience (mistakes, failures, good ideas) to learn & build from. When I first decided on becoming a teacher I wanted to do so for two reasons. First, it was to instill students’ knowledge of subject matter. Secondly, I wanted to show my students that adults can be compassionate, caring and empathetic. I wanted to become a teacher so I do more than teach math or science, I want to support student and be a positive role model, someone they can come to for advice. I want to be a teacher who teaches empathy by example. More than becoming a vehicle for knowledge transfer, I want to be a support system for my community and for students who might not have support at home. However, along with being a caring and compassionate teacher, I must be a challenging teacher and show students that they can push their own limits and try hard to succeed.
I will be a challenging teacher by truly listening to my students. I will be a good listener for students who come to me with personal problems and guide them in the right direction (compassion, support caring). And I will listen to student needs and wants regarding instruction of subjects (wisdom, rigor, challenge). By listening to student needs and wants, I will know how to change the way I deliver instruction and I know in what way I need to differentiate my lesson to adapt and meet the skill levels of certain students. I will reflect often to see what works, what doesn’t work. Reflection through journals or even if I take time to review the events of the day on the drive home, will help me build a challenging yet caring environment. But reflecting is just one step; I will challenge myself to change my behavior based on my reflection by showing support and compassion and by encouraging my students to want academic excellence.
Providing the balance of the middle path is the conversation I have with my myself on a daily basis as parent. To be an effective parent, I determine the needs (both short term and long term) of my children and then decide what they need more from me at that moment. When my high school daughter shares her dismay at losing out a part in the school play, I know that she needs me to be compassionate and caring. However, during audition preparation, my role is not only to be supportive, but also to help her challenge herself and feel confident.
As a future educator, I foresee applying this same strategy with my students. I will do my best to provide them with what they need most and that moment in time. What I decide to do in that specific moment is so important because I will not be able to get back that moment again. Making the right decisions at the right moments will hopefully help cerate a learning environment that does support the middle path.
There is always a challenge in finding a balance in the classroom. I think that there are so many ways you can be serious but also make sure your students are enjoying what they are doing. Two ways I bring in this enjoyment is through humor and stories. Humor can help balance the classroom out - whether it is trying to use it while getting the class to focus or just giving them an opportunity to smile. Stories are also important in a class because you can bring stories in to make connections to what they are learning. Stories are also important because it shows your students that you care about them. It is important for them to share along with you, the teacher.
By bringing in humor and stories it allows the classroom to be exciting, fun, and engaging. It also should help bring back the focus by using these as transitions. Getting a class to focus can be a challenge especially during these transition times. Sometimes stories and humor might not focus back the class and this is where you have to bring that serious side of a teacher by saying, "We can talk more later, but let's focus back on what we are learning". This can be tricky to do at times, but that is why the balance can be challenging.
Compassion is key in a safe and friendly learning environment. It sets the class to be more of a team rather than as we see in some YA's a battle ground. It is important as a teacher to make sure you keep the environment safe. This balance might be challenging, but it helps us become a stronger teacher.
I am surrounded daily by about twenty young, energetic, and sensitive three year olds. They seem to be so lively and inquisitive that it is often difficult for me to keep up. I find myself correcting and hugging the little ones at the same time. It literally takes them thirty seconds to fall down and skin a knee and then turn and whack another child or throw a toy across the room. How can I possibly go from the "caring and nurturing" teacher to the "mean and bossy"? But yet, there I am, trying to stay above the chaos and lecture and love at the same time. The middle path is difficult to find, no matter what age group of children you are working with. However, every child has different needs at different times throughout the day, and as teachers, it is our job that those needs are met. So yes, I may discipline one of my students for pushing a friend, and then turn around and hug the child when they themselves are pushed, but that's my job right now. I'm there to give guidance and support, not simply one or the other, but both. One day, when I'm working with older students, my role will change. I will no longer be giving hugs or disciplining against throwing legos, but I will be there to help with a difficult subject, or lend an ear. I will be there to monitor a student who disrupts the others from learning or spits gum in someone's hair (I have seen it happen). I will still be there, helping my students in any way they need me; consistently finding that middle path to benefit them all.
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