Day 5
Over the last few years I have developed a new teaching mantra. Expect of my students only that which I expect of myself. I know I have written and spoken about this idea often. But there is rarely a day that goes by that I do not find a reason to return to this simple but, challenging concept.
As educators we are charged with helping our students grow and improve in areas that go well beyond academics. We are even expected to assess and report on these non-academic skills known as learning skills. But that also means we must explicitly teach and model these same skills in our daily practice. Our guiding document called Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010) offers a very clear description of these skills as listed below.
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Learning Skills and Work Habits |
Sample Behaviours |
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Responsibility |
The student:
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Organization |
The student:
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Independent Work |
The student:
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Collaboration |
The student:
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Initiative |
The student:
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Self-regulation |
The student:
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Yet I often struggle to maintain these skills in my own practice.
- How many times have I failed to return a library book on time or misplaced an important piece of paper?
- How often have I abandoned an organizational plan mid way through?
- How many planning times have I misjudged the amount of work I could manage in the 40 minutes?
- How many conflicts amongst my peers have gone unresolved?
- How often has a new initiative been received by staff with trepidation rather than positivity?
- How frequently have I failed to seek clarification when I feel unsure?
I believe in VERY high expectations for our students. But I must also believe in them for myself. Who am I to judge a child developing these skills and strategies when I continue to grow and develop them as well?
I am not suggesting we do not provide feedback, ongoing conversation and instruction about learning skills. I am suggesting, however, that each educator reflect on their own learning skills and consider how they are actually teaching and modelling these for their students and with their colleagues.
And the radical in me is suggesting that we should consider eliminating the “levels” (Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement) for evaluation of these attributes and simply use feedback, collaborative reflection and anecdotal notes to support our children as they improve and grow.
I would certainly not give myself an EXCELLENT in my own learning skills each day as I continue to NEED IMPROVEMENT in different ways on different days.
So maybe the kids have things figured out already and we should merely be supportive observers/facilitators of their growth?
Great post! I actually have my students fill in their own Learning Skills using Google Forms and then see what they think of themselves before I enter it in. It’s a great activity and the students actually pay attention to and finally understand the purpose of the Learning Skills.