Teachers will tell you that there’s a point in the year when it just starts clicking. For today, we’ll call this moment, you guessed it – the turn.
When the kids understand and respect your boundaries and expectations. When the trust is established between students and families alike and when the real learning can take place.
After 10 years in traditional classrooms, I can tell you that if it’s a “good” year, it’s usually right after Christmas. Realistically speaking, there are years when it takes almost until spring break time before it happens. But for 9 out of 10 years, it happened.
This past week for us at Indi-ED we believe marked “The Turn” for us.
There’s no way to tell why it happened so soon (although I have a few guesses-read all of our blogs to date), but after a tough week prior and getting support from our parents, we definitely felt the shift last week.
The shift towards comfort. The shift towards ownership. The shift towards potential being achieved. And as you can see from this one’s candid expression, it feels pretty stinking amazing!
Just a few of the warm moments from the week that illustrates that “it” has arrived.
The moment when as they finished working on their reading assignment and were patiently waiting for one of their classmates to finish, they ever so quietly gathered around one of our young men who was working on a personal favorite-origami. I watched as he generously started handing out his paper to each one of them and began showing them how to do it. He didn’t have to, he just did.
The moment when students were given the choice to work on some independent goals and two students who wouldn’t proclaim math as their strongest skill, worked to help each other for nearly an hour!
The moment when two young ladies saw that another classmate was stuck with a math topic and took it upon themselves to break it down for him.
The moment when our students began articulating for themselves the characteristics the leader of their group project would need.
The moment when they take it upon themselves to have a little fun with their learning and it goes better than I had planned.
The moment when after working together and planning for nearly a week already, students are able to admire with pride the work that they’ve accomplished.
The moments when you take the wheels off and they exceed your expectations.
They stay on track.
They share resources.
They focus on their learning.
(Yes, outside-by the water while learning about the water cycle. That is real life learning and just stinking beautiful!)
And return to push themselves even further!
What’s even more comforting to know as an Indi-ED teacher, is that this shift, this feeling, this progress isn’t going anywhere!
In my traditional teaching experiences, I would long for this moment because what comes after is when the really good stuff happens! I always knew that it was short lived however, because a few months later no matter how you shake it, and then I’d have to start all over again.
However, this year I know that this is just a part of the constantly moving forward process. Next year the cohorts will remain together so the trust will already be established. The prior experiences, their prior confidence, their prior relationships will already be established and therefore easier for us to keep on learning and growing together.
As I’m about to ask my students to do a lot of reflecting this upcoming week as they prepare for their student led conferences (yes all of them, not just the ‘gifted’ ones) I’m reminded of this previous post and how amazingly grateful I am to be able to get to help kids not only learn content differently but to learn about themselves and each other as well.
I already hear it out of our students mouths almost daily, this is different. Good different. Worth it different.
Can’t wait to see the long term difference after this turn!