The other
night I couldn’t sleep. I read. I cleaned. I tossed and turned. Then I turned
on the TV. For whatever reason, Buddy the Elf was on. I mean, it is only
October…I actually think this was still September. Why in the world is Buddy
the Elf on TV. For whatever reason I decided to watch this movie….for the 100th
time. I watched the movie until I drifted
off to sleep. One of the last scenes I remember Buddy hears that Santa is on
his way. Upon the news that Santa is coming to town, he can’t help but
contain his excitement -“I know him! I KNOW him!”
That phrase, “I know him!” kept ringing in my ear the other
day as I was doing a class observation. I didn’t understand exactly what was going
on during the small group and what the other groups were doing. Don’t get me
wrong, almost every student was engaged and almost every student amazed me with
their work, I just didn’t 100% understand. So later that day I asked the teacher
about it and I got more than I had anticipated. Not only could she fully
explain each group’s assignments and her pedagogy, she explained almost every
student in the class and where they were and what she was doing with them. Not once
did she mention worksheets. Not once did she mention levels. Not once did she
mention what the student couldn’t do. She discussed in detail where each student
was functioning. She detailed her plan to get each child where she wanted them
to be. She made no excuses about a parent not helping or last year’s teacher,
or last year’s school. As I left the room, I stated “thanks, buddy.”
Why? Because all I could think of was “I know him! I know
him!” Knowing your students is the key
to moving your students. The good news is there is a difference in not knowing
AND not knowing yet. The formula isn’t
hard. But at the same time it isn’t easy. Be prepared. Be willing to adapt to
that plan. Engage your students…be funny, tell stories, make it personal, make
it connected. Reteach if necessary….don’t ever be that teacher who states, “I
taught it, don’t know why they didn’t get it.” And reflect. Always, always
reflect on what you’ve done and how you can do it better.
“I know him!” is the best way to start by moving a student from
good to great.
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