Is My Teaching Effective?
Lessons I’ve Learned as a Class Teacher
Most of us probably remember our first year of teaching!
For me, I carried questions of doubt – “How should I teach this? Am I doing this right?
I confronted feelings of overwhelm – “There’s so much to prepare! How do I do it all?”
I spent hours and hours planning and preparing – Usually, as soon as my children were tucked into bed, I was bent over my own lesson plan, getting ready for the next day.
Now, many years later, my children are grown, I've taught several grade 1-8 class cycles, and I’m in a different stage as a teacher. I wish I could share some of the nuggets I’ve learned on this journey as a Waldorf teacher with my younger self. I wish the less experienced, sometimes confused teacher I was at that time, so earnestly committed to upholding the values of the Waldorf pedagogy, could sit down and take in a few pieces of advice from the teacher I am now.
Here are five tips I would give her.
Five Tips for My Younger Self as a Class Teacher
Number One – Create and Maintain a Positive Learning Space
A positive learning environment is so basic that it can get overlooked in all the other preparation. As teachers, we want the learning environment to be positive, so it’s easy to just assume that it is.
However, I’ve discovered that students are deeply impacted by the space they learn in, and it doesn’t just happen. It needs my intention and commitment as the teacher.
I can identify three different levels of “space” that I focus on when preparing my classroom for learning, which support the all important realms of the will, feeling, and thinking.
The Physical Space. A clean, uncluttered, distraction-free physical space supports the will of my students. This means their desks are completely clear except for the tools they need for the work I ask of them. At the end of the lesson, students put away all materials, leave their desks clean and ready for the next activity. It also means their cubby space is tidy and organized. Students hang their belongings on hooks and line up their shoes and boots neatly before going out to recess or entering the classroom for the next activity. Even the youngest learners can do this. As the teacher, I’ve created a daily rhythm for cleaning the floor, the sink area, and emptying trash, tidying bookshelves, and clearing off my own desk before I go home at the end of the day.
The Emotional Space. A space filled with a teacher’s heart-warmth and good humor supports the feeling life of the children. Students willingly join into all sorts of activities I’ve planned when they feel my good will and warm interest streaming towards them. They also need to feel safe from judgment or negative comments from classmates, so I’ve learned I need to set up these behavior expectations ahead of time, which helps prevent social issues from brewing so easily.
The Cognitive Space. To really focus, to lose themselves in deep learning and discovery, students need times of true quiet. Quietness supports the thinking realm. Our students need times free of interruption and distractions. I’ve learned my greatest immersive learning experiences for students can arise out of these quiet times. It can be hard work to support students in developing self-control, resisting the impulse to call-out or distract others. But once they have learned to comply with this expectation in the classroom, students can achieve marvelous results!
Number Two – Talk Less!
We’re teachers . . . so we talk! How else do we teach?
One of my earliest mentors pointed out to me that I was talking too much! In my earnest efforts to support my students, I was explaining, over-explaining, re-explaining . . . just plain too much explaining!
I’ve since learned to rely on the rhythm of my main lesson to reduce the need for my own teacher voice in the classroom. I use a song or a chime to signal transitions. I wait to explain what comes next until I have full quiet and attention from the students so I don’t have to explain multiple times. I create rituals that help the children quiet themselves so they can become ready and able to hear what I do have to say. These practices create more powerful communication with my students when I do talk – and I do still talk quite a bit!!
Number Three – Simplify, Simplify, Simplify!
“Less is more” is definitely a theme I’ve adopted in my teaching. All the wonderful poems, songs, and stories available have often lured me into including way too much in my lessons. I’ve wanted to include it all so the students don’t miss out on anything!
And it’s very tempting to include too much with academic content, as well – too many background details in a history block, too many fraction problems on a practice paper, too many words to illustrate a spelling rule.
I’ve watched the students’ eyes glaze over and their attention wander as I determinedly keep going with delivering all of my content.
Now, I’ve learned – pare down the offerings to a few meaningful elements and do that much really, really well to create more meaningful learning for the students!
Number Four – Bring in Humor . . . A Lot!
Being a Waldorf teacher is serious business! It’s a huge responsibility with so many different facets. I’ve learned that when my own sober earnestness about being a Waldorf teacher gets too heavy, the children in my care lose their enthusiasm and delight in learning.
Children love to laugh. It makes them feel good. It makes them feel happy about school.
When I can bring humor into the classroom, it helps create joy and makes the children feel lively and eager to participate.
Humor can come in all different ways. Often I’ll bring an anecdote about something that happened at home. Little things can bring delight, like the raven that stole an egg from my chicken house, or the silly antics of my cat. These little stories are short and simple. They have nothing to do with the lesson at hand, but they do help build a relationship of warmth with the students.
I also like to bring in poems or songs with a twist of humor or a play on words. The possibilities for finding good humor and laughter are endless. But the bottom line is the students feel better and I feel better when we experience school together with joy.
Number Five – Pay Attention to the Little Things
What first stole my heart when I discovered Waldorf education years ago was the beauty. Beauty shone through the watercolor paintings, the singing, the handwork projects . . . beauty showed up everywhere!
But once I began to teach, I discovered that beauty didn’t just happen. It came about almost as a by-product of putting great care into everything!
I learned that when I help children focus on the details, it empowers them to rise up to excellence, and in that place, beauty can shine!
Insisting that students complete writing and drawing with neatness and care rather than rushing to a sloppy finish leads to beauty in their work. Noticing critical or disparaging comments between students and helping them shift to a kinder practices brings beauty into the social fabric of the class.
The little details become the building blocks of a greater overall experience at all levels.
Giving That Younger Self Grace and Gratitude
Even as I reflect on ways I could’ve made my teaching stronger years ago, or created better learning space, or brought in more joy, I’m grateful to that young, inexperienced teacher that I used to be.
She worked hard. She struggled. She made plenty of mistakes. But ultimately, like the students she taught, she too grew and learned.
I would not be the teacher I am today without the journey my younger self made to get me here!
