Building Relationships with Agency

Fast Llamas,

I once heard that "Learning how to learn is the most important thing you will ever learn".  Talk about an impact statement!  

When we think about this statement, you might automatically think about learning content, which is true... learning and memory and closely tied together and when you learn how to master working memory (especially attention), the learning happening in your classroom will make a major positive shift.  

But, we all know that there are many factors that work together to create and enhance the learning happening in your classroom.  Great teachers assess and reflect on their physical environment, their atmosphere, the foundation and the design and delivery of their content.  These work as a system together to create an optimum learning environment.  

Let's talk about foundation.  Your foundation in your classroom are the rules, systems and procedures that you have created and taught to your students.  Everything is built on this solid foundation.  (it's foundational!)  It also includes your consequences and social skills.  Now, we think learning how to learn is not only content learning, but social skill or behavioral skills that carry the class along.  

I found this graphic and I really like it...

At first I was a little confused with the "Can't".  But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  Students "can't" do these things due to lack of skill or stressors in the environment.  This shifts the mindset of the teacher to either change the environment or teach skills.  

How do we teach skills?  same as content.  We grab students attention, provide the direct teaching, provide ample practice and review.  We also can provide reasons the behavior benefits the student.  If you then this, statements are quite powerful in motivating students.  

Review is important, these skills are reviewed frequently throughout the day in quick reminders of expectations of how to behave.  We never want to leave students not knowing our expectations. Without clear expectations for the behavior we want to see, students tend to make up their own.  And not always in the most positive ways.  

As we head to the end of our fall semester, that January reset is looming.  Start thinking about skills teaching you will be doing in the new year!

until next time, stay fast!