Mark W.F. Condon: Blog

It is a favorite game of pre-school children – Playing School. With tiny chairs in rows and a chalkboard and a pointer, the “teacher” spends her time bossing other kids around. Do this, don’t do that. Line up. Shut up. Not surprisingly, this game isn’t particularly popular the farther along that kids get in school.
The bad news is that some adult, paid teachers just play school. This is not what you need for your child, so every parent should know what to look for to see if their child’s teacher is like that.

Teaching is complex because we need to teach 25+ very different kids all at once. So classroom management is a huge issue with even super teachers. But what parents will see in common across really good teachers, regardless of the number in class is that they actually teach kids things. How do good teachers do that?

Teachers demonstrate for the kids what concept, topic, theme or skill they want the kids to learn. Good teachers show them how to do X or analyze Y or explain Z. They show kids why anyone would want to know or do such things. Every child is shown when this topic of instruction is called for in real life. Make sure your child’s teacher is showing your child exactly what they are to learn.

Teachers share with the children, holding their hands while they do things together with the kids. They show them examples (multiple) of what their learning should look like, they lead the children to analyze those examples, they explain things in terms the children can understand, while the children give it a try. They joyfully accept successive approximations of where they hope the children will get, chalking their errors up to the growth curve and seeing effort as paramount for ultimate success. They invite and encourage children’s self-evaluation and reflection upon their own performance and progress.

Teachers guide children who attempt to do the work on their own, offering over the shoulder observations, suggestions, questions and commentary. They smile as children get ever closer to being “good” at what they are learning. They focus on excellence, not perfection. They teach children to compete with themselves first and with others second, always seeking to get better than they were and to find their own strengths and weaknesses. They understand that there will be varied levels of attainment in any class, but they ensure that every child is at least proficient for their age.

Teachers lead children to independence in the X’s, Y’s and Z’s of their curriculum as the youngsters engage not just in academics, but with the world beyond school with their newly developed skills, strategies and habits. Teachers lead discussions among learning peers about how what was learned in school may be encountered in the real world, how it will be hard to recognize, how it could be a much more complex version than when they encountered in the shelter of their schoolroom. They return to challenge their students to explain the what, the how, the why and the when of the target concepts, topics, themes or skills they have learned.

Now, THAT’s professional teaching. When you find your child has a teacher like that, do whatever you can to support that teacher.

If parents hear only about children’s misbehavior or about children who aren’t “doing their work”
…if parents see lots of identical workbooks or worksheets and bulletin boards full of identical “art”work
…if parents see an emphasis on the children following procedures for how things look rather than the substance of what is being taught of what they are learning
…if parents hear that the teacher doesn’t think the children can learn certain things because of home-life, laziness, poverty, and the like.

Sorry, but THAT’s just playing school. Look elsewhere for a teacher to actually guide your children into adulthood.