I once observed a teacher leading a large class of students. I could tell she didn’t have much experience teaching for a number of reasons, but one of the most obvious was that she kept getting derailed. A lot. She would be mid-sentence when a kid would suddenly shoot their hand in the air. It caught her off-guard with the urgency of a text message, and she took the bait every time. Even if she was working toward a main point, she allowed the hand to slice her words mid-sentence as she responded, “–Yes?”
The urgent hand waving in the air won her attention, and eventually, everyone else’s. After a series of similar interruptions, she soon lost the interest of all of the students and spent the rest of the lesson struggling to get it back (unsuccessfully). It was a disaster.
You know that exasperating thing that happens where you call on a student and they give the same answer that has just been said?
Me: What are some things we see in the sky?
Student #1: The sun!
Student #2: Planes.
Student #3: The sun!
Me: Someone already said that. Do you have another idea?
Student #3: Oh… um. PLANES!
Me: …
Or when they ask you a question that you’ve literally just answered:
Meet JoEllen
Subscribe via Email
Top Posts & Pages
Categories
