There are two warring factions in science teaching.
On one side is the desire to be liked. This sounds immature, needy, and petty. But it is real. At some level, every teacher has an innate love of children. And we want that love returned! Duh. Now, must of us have developed a professionalism that creates an appropriate limit to this need. But don't lie to yourself. If you had the option of your kids liking you or hating you, the choice is clear.
I remember being a scrawny 7th grader who had to be bussed to the next town for junior high. The bus driver, Pete, had an unhealthy need for the love of junior highers. On the way to school we had to drive through the country. This included two 90 degree corners to get around a pond. On the way to the corners, one of us (not me, I promise) devised an evil plan. We would beg Pete to take the corner as fast as he could. We knew he would do it because of his ugly need. The second part of the plan was the most devious. As we approached the corner with Pete speeding up to gain our adoration, we would all jump to one side of the bus. It would be great fun. We continued to think this until the bus was up on two wheels swerving toward the pond. Fortunately, the bus landed upright and not in the water. Our little prepubescent hearts beating out of our chests. And a crystal clear understanding of how unhealthy it was for an adult to need our praise.
And then there is the opposite end of the spectrum. The end where the successful "covering the curriculum" wins over all other human interactions. The schedule was placed on the calendar. Possibly chiseled in stone. The teacher's blood pressure rises as the kids don't follow along with the schedule.
"What is wrong with teenagers these days?"
"I don't understand why the don't get it. We have covered this material so many times."
And the teacher that is bound to curriculum watches daily as the calendar becomes more and more messed up. The eyes of the teacher so locked on little paper squares with the neatest plans written in red pen that they can't see the faces of the kids in the room.
And here is the reason we are darned if we do and darned if we don't.
How in the world are we to strike this balance? How can I show my students compassion and intensity at the same time? How can I prove to my administration that I know what I'm doing?
If you have read this far, you are waiting for THE ANSWER! I know, I know. "Just tell me how to do it."
So here is my solution.
Go as fast as you can, for as long as you need, and then you are done!
You get the opportunity to meet your students where they are at. They can only go as fast as they can. You can only engage them as they allow. But when they feel part of the decision-making process of the pace, they begin to buy in. They know that Mr. Koch is listening. I use a goofy little formative assessment. It's called the Koch Scale of Confidence. It goes from 0-14. After each formative assessment they know they will be asked to score their confidence. They know that they don't have to tell the teacher if they were right or wrong. They are communicating their confidence. And confidence equals pace. If they have low confidence (less than 10), then I change my lesson plans for that day. We have to be a ten to move on. And if all the class is a 10 and one person is a 4, then they know I will meet them there. I have been teaching for 19 years. I can count on one hand the number of times that I have eaten in the teachers lounge. I eat in my room. I eat with kids whose confidence is waffling. I pour into them. We try and try again. We feel the confidence level creep up.
And the magic of this? The slowest students have real connection to me. They know I care more about them than pace. They are more valuable than a calendar. And the class moves at the fastest pace possible. Everyone in my classes know that we are going to push hard. I teach the AP and honors courses. They will sweat and bleed. But it will not be alone. We battle together. We win together.
And we aren't darned because we did. We are appreciated; by the slow and the fast. We are pushing the kids toward their utmost.
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