One
of my teaching goals for this year was to become “eloquent under pressure.” I
like to be well-prepared for my lessons, and when I do not have time to fully
prepare, I experience anxiety which sometimes causes me to stumble and stutter
in front of a class. To me, being “eloquent under pressure” means being
confident enough in my skills, knowledge, and abilities to maintain poise and
clarity while teaching, even when things are not going as planned.
Last
week, in my student teaching, I had several experiences which reinforced my
need for improvement in this area. For example, I was asked to teach and
reflect with students on an assignment I had recently graded; I was unprepared
for this task, and had difficulties coming up with what to say.
I
enjoy being prepared; I actually love the act of lesson planning, and I take
pride in my ability to stay ahead of deadlines. But of course, when I am a
teacher, in my own classroom, there will be times when my lesson does not go as
planned—these are the times when flexibility will be key. There might be a fire
drill that cuts my class period in half, or a class may be struggling and need
extra instruction before moving on.
So, what does it mean to be “flexible” as a teacher? What is the
difference between flexibility and improvisation? And, how can I prepare for
and practice being flexible?
Although her writing focuses on instruction at
the college level, I believe that Yoo’s findings are valid in for secondary
teaching as well. Yoo states that it is important for teachers to be focused on
what students need, and to be prepared to “use a variety of instructional
material readily” to assist students based on their individual needs. A teacher’s
ability to respond quickly with an appropriate instructional method is somewhat
determined by his or her “pedagogical content knowledge” as well as “procedural
knowledge,” i.e. how to plan and execute a lesson. Yoo points out that much of
this knowledge is gained through years of teaching; expert teachers are better equipped
to differentiate on the spot than novice teachers. Yoo also points out that
expert teachers who have taught for many years are more likely to conduct “improvisational”
lessons—these teachers have a wealth of knowledge and experience to tap into,
so although they are improvising a lesson, they are not improvising content or
teaching strategies. Yoo also mentions, however, that some experienced teachers
become rigid in their instruction, habitually using the same instructional
methods again and again.
That makes sense…experienced teachers are better
able to be flexible in their teaching, but they should be careful not to get to
set in their ways. But…I am a novice teacher, so how can I learn to be
flexible NOW?
Yoo’s suggestion for both expert and novice
teachers to become appropriately flexible in their instruction is “metacognitive
teaching,” which many of my colleagues would know as “reflective teaching.” Consistently
reflecting, revising, and adapting lessons based on student needs is the best
way to achieve organized, yet flexible instruction, and meet the needs of every
individual student.
I have been working on metacognitive teaching
this week. After each class, I reflect. After grading assignments, I reflect.
After participating in class discussion, I reflect. I try to think “what would
I tell this student if I had an individual conference with them? What do they
need to work on? How could I help them?” I am trying to focus on students’
strengths, not only their weaknesses, and attempt to reinforce their positive
behaviors and accomplishments during class (as much as I can from my limited position
as a student teacher). I hope that this is benefitting the students in some
way. I can say for certain that this week my confidence as a teacher and speaker
has improved.
