Thank you so much. I think Tom Sheridan calls it "running the room." This is about how you make your classroom function. The main priority and focus is teaching and learning whilst also embracing and leading the pace of a lesson.
I love this distinction between pace and speed. Sometimes the best teaching happens when we slow down and give children space to think, question, and make mistakes. How often do we mistake a busy classroom for a learning-rich one?
There has to be a distinction. Too often feedback on lessons has surrounded the word "pace," suggesting that when a lesson is running smoothly, pace is strong. The danger of that is that it just encourages teachers to ask the children that are going to confirm the right answers so that a teacher can move on with little friction or interruption. Which is counterintuitive because we should be seeking out the children that don't quite understand and finding solutions to help them to understand.
Well said. By the way, I'm Ruth, I write R.B.'s Substack, personal essays on identity, family, and the things we don't say out loud. If that's your kind of reading, feel free to check it out, and always open to collabs too.
Love this - been thinking a lot about this recently and the ways we can reduce mental friction through shared language and routines.
Thank you so much. I think Tom Sheridan calls it "running the room." This is about how you make your classroom function. The main priority and focus is teaching and learning whilst also embracing and leading the pace of a lesson.
I love this distinction between pace and speed. Sometimes the best teaching happens when we slow down and give children space to think, question, and make mistakes. How often do we mistake a busy classroom for a learning-rich one?
There has to be a distinction. Too often feedback on lessons has surrounded the word "pace," suggesting that when a lesson is running smoothly, pace is strong. The danger of that is that it just encourages teachers to ask the children that are going to confirm the right answers so that a teacher can move on with little friction or interruption. Which is counterintuitive because we should be seeking out the children that don't quite understand and finding solutions to help them to understand.
Well said. By the way, I'm Ruth, I write R.B.'s Substack, personal essays on identity, family, and the things we don't say out loud. If that's your kind of reading, feel free to check it out, and always open to collabs too.