Ten months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 328. Yesterday, I talked about not letting the what-ifs keep us from making new experiences. Today is a new day.
For example, one game we do involves throwing a ball into a basket. Pretty simple. But then, I start moving the basket in a rhythmic manner (I can't make it super unfair). Once they get that down, I might have them bounce it off the wall and into the basket. Simple tweaks like that aren't really all that difficult. The objective is still the same, but introducing a new method of doing the same thing makes it seem like I just revealed to them that Santa Clause doesn't exist (or does he?). It blow their minds.
Most times the kids freak out with a loud "EEEEHHHH!?" and as we play the games they realize that the bar isn't quite as high as they thought and that they can do it if they put their minds to it. This simple thing ends up giving them confidence in playing the game and that confidence absolutely translates into other areas of their life. Whether it's learning new structures and vocabulary, practicing only speaking in English, or how they approach struggle in general. The intent is to train them to face adversity head-on with a smile. Whether it's actually working I don't know, but I have noticed my students' confidence growing as we've progressed through the year.
To me, a the role of the teacher is to guide students on how to learn, not just spoon feed everything to them. In the same way that coddling your children too much can make them overly dependent on you, simply making things easy for them to understand isn't enough. You gotta introduce a little chaos to break them past their current level. You have to show them how to push past their limits. If they enjoy it, they'll take that chaos and want to overcome it. No pain, no gain. Like life, there is always light with dark. Never one without the other. You need balance. Finding that balance is how we grow, and although it's so much easier to stay in your warm and cozy bed on a chilly winter morning than getting out and feeling cold you need to do it if you want the time to get shit done and still have time for leisure.
Don't get too comfortable and you don't have to worry.
Peace
"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." - Neale Donald WalschI'd consider myself an unorthodox teacher. Whereas I'm told I should make the students be as comfortable as possible to make them have fun, I often take the opposite approach. I like to push my students out of their comfort zones and make the games we play progressively harder to keep them on their toes.
For example, one game we do involves throwing a ball into a basket. Pretty simple. But then, I start moving the basket in a rhythmic manner (I can't make it super unfair). Once they get that down, I might have them bounce it off the wall and into the basket. Simple tweaks like that aren't really all that difficult. The objective is still the same, but introducing a new method of doing the same thing makes it seem like I just revealed to them that Santa Clause doesn't exist (or does he?). It blow their minds.
Most times the kids freak out with a loud "EEEEHHHH!?" and as we play the games they realize that the bar isn't quite as high as they thought and that they can do it if they put their minds to it. This simple thing ends up giving them confidence in playing the game and that confidence absolutely translates into other areas of their life. Whether it's learning new structures and vocabulary, practicing only speaking in English, or how they approach struggle in general. The intent is to train them to face adversity head-on with a smile. Whether it's actually working I don't know, but I have noticed my students' confidence growing as we've progressed through the year.
To me, a the role of the teacher is to guide students on how to learn, not just spoon feed everything to them. In the same way that coddling your children too much can make them overly dependent on you, simply making things easy for them to understand isn't enough. You gotta introduce a little chaos to break them past their current level. You have to show them how to push past their limits. If they enjoy it, they'll take that chaos and want to overcome it. No pain, no gain. Like life, there is always light with dark. Never one without the other. You need balance. Finding that balance is how we grow, and although it's so much easier to stay in your warm and cozy bed on a chilly winter morning than getting out and feeling cold you need to do it if you want the time to get shit done and still have time for leisure.
Don't get too comfortable and you don't have to worry.
Peace
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| In breaking out of the bubble, you can see what you've yet to experience. These experiences lead to countless opportunities for growth. |
I apologize for the late post. It was one of my coworkers' last day and we had a party to celebrate so I got home pretty late.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day~