A Balanced Walk
Blog post #1
In a previous post titled "The Middle Way" I wrote about how educators try to have a balanced classroom, a middle path to nourish wisdom and while caring for and care about the success of students. It is important for educators to have compassion for students (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. (You can read the blog post; it is the third one from the top in this blog). I frequently think about this concept as I walk my dogs.
Sometimes Lizzie pulls me on her leash one way and wants to go that direction (caring — supportive) while Schooner has no intention of going that way and is pulling his leash and me to the other direction (rigor, challenge, assessment). There are the three of us — at a stand still —with my arms stretched in both direction with little progress traveling the dog walk path.
Over the years I have had to determine a middle path to balance Lizzie and Schooner and their needs on our daily walks. In a way it is like riding a horse and having the right amount of tension and balance on the reigns so the horse can perform gracefully.
Since I wrote "The Middle Way" blog posting I have been on many many walks with my dogs; we still are working at finding a balance in our walks and I am still thinking about a balanced classroom. I have figured out some ways for more balanced dog walks. Simply I have figured out that not every dog walk needs to totally balanced.
When there is little traffic, no other dogs present and no one running to catch the train I let go of one leash giving that dog a little extra freedom to do what dogs do on a walk. Then a little later the other dog gets a loser leash and has some extra freedom to explore. Sometimes on early morning or late evening walks when there is no traffic in the alley I let go of both leashes giving both dogs at the same time creative exploratory moments. When I do this it makes my job as a dog walker a little more challenging because I have to be very alert so neither dog gets in harm's way, even though the dogs are never more than 2--3 feet away from me. When we return from the walks we are all a happier.
I guess this is what we need to do as educators; we need to know that every class, every day does not have to be totally continually balanced. We have to demonstrate both caring behaviors and behaviors of high student expectations each day in some way because in each of our classes we have a range of Lizzies and Schooners. Each student having different kinds of needs, usually not in harmony at the same time with each other. Some students pull us to one side of the path while others pull us to the other side of the path but all needing at the end of the day both compassion and rigor.
Balance in our classes is influenced from forces outside the school whether they are family situations, political demands, or district concerns. Some of these influences educators have little or no control but somehow we have to find a balance in their expectations and what is best for you students.
Since you have been thinking about and identifying your views on teaching and learning and obstacles in education reply to this blog by writing and posting a short paragraph on how your views and identified obstacles might in impact a balanced classroom. What will you do to address such demands in order to provide the right amount of balance for each student, each Lizzie and each Schooner in your class?
Blog post #2
Once other students in class have posted something on their blogs read a couple and post a reply to one.
Blog posting #3
Check out some on the advice and obstacles from some of the board members on the web site
http://web.me.com/yamwbp/Advice_4_MLEs/Welcome.html.
Compare your views on teaching and learning and the obstacles you identified to those provided on the website and then post a short paragraph in your blog.
Blog 4#
Go to other educators’ blogs and explore what they are writing and sharing. Try to read at least three educator blogs. Take one of the blogs and post a reply to the blog sharing you thoughts about what was written.
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Blog Post #2
Whether leading a nurturing, rigorous, enlivening classroom community that meets the needs of each student or walking a pair of two different dogs, balance is of paramount importance. To help bolster lives through an education that is both challenging and accessible, thought-provoking and intuitive, deeply salient and couched in hopeful dreams, educators must strive for balance as a way of life. Yet, I believe that truly exemplary educators extend upon balance to genuinely connect each student with her or his unique learning; exemplary educators scaffold education so as to provide multiple points of access—simultaneously—for learning. Though a balanced approach to meet the especially varied needs of Middle Level students, I believe that a balanced, scaffolded approach to education is optimal.
For a wonderful analogy of such equity, consider a top-notch band. The primary responsibility of the conductor is to guide the many different musicians—each playing a different instrument, each contributing a unique element to the whole piece, and each with unique needs to play her or his best—toward a common goal: a synergistic performance. The conductor must take a balanced leadership approach to foster success; he must nurture personal exploration and growth while also moving forward as a unit. Yet, an exemplary conductor also scaffolds his leadership so that each musician gets what she or he needs to succeed. The conductor will give the clarinet musicians guidance that is slightly different from the guidance given to the oboe musicians and slightly different from the guidance given to the percussion musicians. Moreover, the conductor must scaffold the development of each musician within a given section. For instance, one percussionist may have different needs to succeed than another percussionist.
Obstacles are ever-present in education; resources are limited, each student has personal challenges that impact academic development, and students—as well as educators—sometimes doubt their unique promises and limitless potentials. Yet, such obstacles can be mitigated or overcome with an educator’s genuine commitment to balance and scaffolding to meet student needs. I believe that when each student is put first—and such a commitment is realized by the students, educators, parents, guardians, stakeholders and community members—the synergy of a classroom community blossoms, and anything is possible.
Blog #2
I think Mr. Heisler explained the concept and idea behind the importance of balance is all aspects of life very well. The question is not will we be faced with the obstacle of finding a “balanced walk,” because of course we will run into that as educators; the question remains how will we provide our students with a balanced and rich educational experience. In every aspect of life, even stepping aside from education, we as individuals are faced with conflicting decisions and pulled towards different paths in life all of the time. As educators it is our job to identify what these obstacles may present themselves as, and try to eliminate the problems associated with an unbalanced classroom. An excellent educator will have to use the uniqueness and diversity of a classroom to configure a classroom management plan that will benefit each one of the students. I also believe that these obstacles that we face as educators in regards to maintaining the equilibrium of our classrooms will help us and challenge us to be even better educators that are able to provide their students with a rich and balanced learning experience. This is especially true in regards to teaching young adolescents. A healthy balance in the classroom is the beginning of providing our students with a harmonized learning environment.
This is certainly not a new question, the balance between compassion and challenge, however, it still remains an important one. This is simply because finding that happy medium where your Lizzies feel encouraged and motivated, while your Schooners feel not only engaged but challenged, is perhaps the longest on-going battle that teachers of any age face. It is a battle that will only get more complicated as new placement test scores, rising class sizes, and trends away from tracking, to name a few, will further diversify the typical class make-up. The differences in each of our students, the things that make them who they are, including their family background, extra-curricular interests, and learning styles, are characteristics we as teachers need to learn and care about. This task will not be an easy one, but a necessary one, as we look to tailor each learning experience to our unique students. Unfortunately, this is too often easier said than done.
Almost a year has passed since I took MLE500, and not a day goes by that I don't think about 'the middle way' and maintaining balance in all aspects of my life.
The dog walking story is a great example of how important finding balance is. Having two stubborn bulldogs myself, I'm always trying to find ways to go on walks together that are enjoyable for everyone - Phil enjoys moving at sloth-speed, smelling EVERYTHING in sight; whereas his little sister, Elenore, loves running around at full speed, only stopping to 'find her spot' in the grass. On our walks, they both have two very different ideas of where we are going and at what pace - and sometimes they don't want to move at all! When we are in balance, we are all walking together - but being in balance does not necessarily mean that the dogs' behavior is equal. I like to think of it as differentiation - I've learned that to find balance on our walks, as the pack leader, I needed to change a few things and recognize the different needs of the dogs. Since Phil doesn't like to walk at a regular pace, I leash him up with a normal size lead, allowing him to have a few feet of freedom for sniffing things, but short enough to keep pace with me. Sometimes I let go of the leash completely and allow him to follow slightly behind me - he really likes that, but sometimes it's not always practical. Elenore, on the other hand, LOVES to walk and run. I used to have her on a similar leash as Phil, but soon realized that she needed more room to walk, and I could only let her go as far as I could reach with Phil's leash as well. Needless to say, those walks were not balanced, and they were more stressful than enjoyable. I decided to get Elenore a 12ft retractable leash, allowing her to roam freely without being held back by Phil's slowness. Now, I also make a habit to bring lots of small treats on our walks for positive reinforcement. Both Phil and Elenore are very food motivated, and I have no problem rewarding them for their good behaviors. What a difference the leash and treats made with our walks!
What I've learned through that experience was that having balance doesn't mean that all parts/participants have to be equal/identical all the time- just like differentiation in the classroom. Although the outcome is the same - the dogs get their walks and bathroom time - the approach for each individual dog is not identical. Just like in a classroom, we will have to account for the individual needs of each student and adjust our lessons and activities accordingly each day.
Finding balance is an on-going process that takes time, patience and reflection. As teachers, we must take the time to know and understand our students and their communities. We must be patient, as some ways we attempt to find balance may create the opposite effect. We must also take time to reflect upon the day and ask ourselves if we did our best to maintain balance, and if not, think of ways to improve for tomorrow.
I believe this balanced walk is taken everyday in a class, not only finding the balance, but finding the path. To find the path that you and your students will walk you must first get to know and understand your students. Whether they need a straight and narrow path, a more rigorous and uphill course, or a wide path with plenty of room for pondering. Through this the teacher and students can find the correct balance that they will take together.
The path they take together may change daily and have new obstalces. Yearly and monthly the path changes due to new educational policies that come from a top down system that we exist and work in. The balance of a walk has been altered by such things as NCLB, standaridized test movements, race to the top, and now RTI. With all of these obstacles and policies in our walk, it is a wonder that more teachers do not fall off of their path than already have. I believe that as long as the focus is on the education of the unique individual needs of the children we have in our classroom, we will be successful educators. There is no one size fits all plan that we can take it. The curriculum and instruction must be organic, bottom-top instruction based on the class, the child, and their learning styles. Through this we can better create a balanced walk.
Test
Test!
Each student is an individual, as stated in the 2,000 VOICES Young Adolescents' Perceptions & Curriculum Implication on page 10, "...young adolescents are persons first, then students." Hence, it is important to discover social realities of students. Discovering the students' social realities will help identify the uniqueness of the student. This uniqueness will provide the teacher with vital information about things that are important to the student and how their brain is developing. Then implement differentiation strategies of teaching within the instruction. The differentiation will help overcome the obstacle of an imbalance classroom; the variance applied from differentiation strategies of teaching will address the demands of providing the correct amount of balance for each student. For example students can describe a house by drawing what they see, explaining where they live, creating a dream home, using technology media to demonstrate, or categorize things that belong in a home. The teacher can provide examples of each way and tell the student to select a method of representing a house and observe what their minds will display.
Each student is an individual, as stated in the 2,000 VOICES Young Adolescents' Perceptions & Curriculum Implication on page 10, "...young adolescents are persons first, then students." Hence, it is important to discover social realities of students. Discovering the students' social realities will help identify the uniqueness of the student. This uniqueness will provide the teacher with vital information about things that are important to the student and how their brain is developing. Then implement differentiation strategies of teaching within the instruction. The differentiation will help overcome the obstacle of an imbalance classroom; the variance applied from differentiation strategies of teaching will address the demands of providing the correct amount of balance for each student. For example students can describe a house by drawing what they see, explaining where they live, creating a dream home, using technology media to demonstrate, or categorize things that belong in a home. The teacher can provide examples of each way and tell the student to select a method of representing a house and observe what their minds will display.
I think the balanced walk is a great analogy. I think everything we do in life causes us to walk a fine line and to find that balance, I always feel as though I’m being pulled in a hundred directions. Whether that balance is between jobs, family, school, sports, hobbies or some combination of the all or some of those things, we all have to do a juggling act everyday, including our students. We all have things that we need to balance and finding that balance in the classroom will be one of my biggest challenges. I’ve been teaching figure skating for years now; that “classroom” is easier to balance because everyone is on the same page, usually, because our classes are level based not aged based so all of my students at any given time are on the same level. One of the questions I have asked through the entire master’s program at NLU is how do I teach? Do I teach to the middle of the road and then differentiate for the slower and faster students? Do I teach to the more accelerated students and then catch the other students up? Or do I teach to the slower kids and give the more accelerated students extra work to do or extra things for them to stay ahead? I still struggle with this question and I realize that most of teaching is situational and that no two classrooms are the same but I wonder if someone has found something that works in general for the classrooms they have taught in. But it’s not only differentiating instruction that makes us find a balance, there is a balance between, discipline, exploration, instruction, caring and nurturing that all need to be addressed and not just once and awhile but everyday.
Immediately, the first thought that comes to mind is 'if we all have our own dogs pulling us in different directions, then defining that middle way for a classroom seems impossible, if not inappropriate.' Next, I remind myself how difficult it is for me to find and maintain a "middle way." So how then do I take this concept and apply it to my pedagogy?
I start by remembering how some of the teachers I've encountered have kept this balance. It started with a vision-a feeling-that what we were doing and what we were going to accomplish was special. This may sound obvious, but I didn't know what I was going to learn and how and when I was going to learn it. Yet, as best as one can when encountering something new, I felt ready for the challenge--and I attribute that to my teachers.
And now I am interested, is what I learned and how I experienced certain lessons the same as others who were in my classes? I reckon it was not. There must have been some overlap, but my strengths and weaknesses attributed to a different perspective than other students in the class. Hopefully our uniqueness helped to formulate a richer experience for us all.
So what did it take for us to get there together? I am not exactly sure how to phrase this, but...discipline gave our raft a paddle. Instilled by the teacher, it allowed us to focus our studies internally, and then project what we learned and showcase our talents as a group, or community. Also, I believe there was definitely a method or process to what we accomplished. By that, I mean that it was not just about the accomplishment: it was how to get there; how we get there together. And everyone had a role. No matter if you were the kid sitting closest to the light switch or the one who would ask the first meaningful question--we were in this together.
I recently heard from a friend how his dog-sitter walked several dogs a day and appeared to be making a killing. Aside from being amazed at how much he made, something told me he had figured it out. He walked the dogs in groups based on how friendly they were with each other and how fast a pace they kept. His job was not walking dogs, but planning how to group these individual animals. If he could plan successfully and adjust accordingly, the walking would take care of itself.
Obstacles
1. The obstacle of TIME is brought of several times (Teachers #1, 3, 6, 11, 16, 17, 21, 28, and 61 and YAs 14). I know as a parent, student, and student teacher that I was at times overwhelmed by the lack of time to do everything adequately well. At the end of the day I felt that I had short changed someone or some group (my students, my family, or my cohort). I know that I’m not Superman but sometimes I still try to be at least for one day.
2. Technology is another factor that comes up often, be it not being able to show a YouTube video in the classroom due to internet filters, trying to keep up with technology, or not having the appropriate technology in the classroom. I have tried to keep up with technology to keep my kids safe and stay on top of changes to increase my own learning, but now it is more of a necessity than a desire to keep up, be able to use it well, and integrate it into my classroom.
3. Classroom management is something I was thrown into since I observed at suburban schools but did my student teaching at an urban school. I was not prepared for students who showed up to class once a week, a school that did not require students to do homework, or gang problems.
4. Curricula has come up a lot in discussions in terms of what students need to know for testing, for the next level of schooling, but also what do students want to learn about.
I think balance is very important and can also be very difficult to achieve. I had a very difficult time balancing the multitudinous situations that came up in my students' lives with the need for consistency and rigor in the classroom. For some communities, balance will be extremely difficult to achieve until additional services help to balance the basic components of life, such as: home, family, and health.
To use the analogy in a slightly different way, each student walks a different path through their education. So instead of simply two paths that need balancing, there are 25 paths to balance in each classroom. Fortunately, these 25 paths are not totally dissimilar from one another. You may have 5 students who need to move more slowly, 10 that need to move more quickly, 5 that need extra behavioral supervision, and 5 that go with the flow. This is where effective grouping practices can help to provide additional balance in the classroom. It may be useful to group similar students together, but it may also be useful (and enlightening) to group students in ways that allow them to use their strengths to help others. Perhaps a student who is inclined to move more slowly can help a fast-moving student to solidify their mastery of a concept before moving on. Students who sometimes require additional behavioral supports may be able to lend extra energy to a group to make a topic more exciting. Students may also benefit from learning strategies for engaging in further self-exploration of topics.
Unfortunately, effective grouping may also require access to extra resources which may not be available. For instance, diverse classes may require the presence of an inclusion teacher, access to technology, or extra space to facilitate differentiated learning.
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