Although I spend most of my professional hours thinking about instruction on a regular basis, these last few weeks have challenged me to incorporate a fair amount of instruction into my personal life as well! With three school aged children of my own, recent events across the world have put us all into the position of changing our habits and learning new routines. Here is what I know, now more than ever; the best way for all of us to keep learning through this challenging time is to have grace with one another, establish routines and rituals for all of our learners, and make sure that for each thing we ask of one another, we provide the purpose, or “why” of our ask.
When I think about the Instructional Habits embedded into Powerful Teaching and Learning, I can think of about 1000 ways they apply to our current “distance learning” situation. Each time I post, I hope to share one way in which these habits are helping me to provide instruction to my own children, and to help keep learning present in our household during these trying times.
These first few weeks, we are working on establishing routines for learning in an environment that has many purposes other than learning. We have selected a comfortable space, and have settled into a morning check-in routine, followed by independent work time. Our brains are wired to respond to predictability, and benefit from knowing what to expect. This is a critical aspect of learning; our environment needs to feel safe and comfortable. I know for me, where I choose to work definitely impacts my focus and productivity!
Please stay healthy and safe, and check back for more Habits of instruction to help survive this current reality.
When I think about the Instructional Habits embedded into Powerful Teaching and Learning, I can think of about 1000 ways they apply to our current “distance learning” situation. Each time I post, I hope to share one way in which these habits are helping me to provide instruction to my own children, and to help keep learning present in our household during these trying times.
These first few weeks, we are working on establishing routines for learning in an environment that has many purposes other than learning. We have selected a comfortable space, and have settled into a morning check-in routine, followed by independent work time. Our brains are wired to respond to predictability, and benefit from knowing what to expect. This is a critical aspect of learning; our environment needs to feel safe and comfortable. I know for me, where I choose to work definitely impacts my focus and productivity!
Please stay healthy and safe, and check back for more Habits of instruction to help survive this current reality.