The Teacher As Paranormal Investigator: Reading the Energy in the Classroom
There were many parallels to teaching in Kristy Sumner’s interview, The Teacher As Paranormal Investigator. The importance of collaboration, research, and storytelling are just a few. The other connection to teaching that I heard was the idea of reading the energy in the room. Soul Sisters use audio and video equipment to try to capture energy in the buildings that they investigate.
The plan tight and hang loose philosophy that I tend to follow in my daily teaching is for just this purpose. If I planned something and it isn’t going the way I had hoped, I need to notice that energy, investigate, and shift the learning. Also, after sitting at an assembly for 45 minutes, notice the energy of your students and take a break outside or if the weather is bad, throw on a GoNoodle video or two or give the class a few minutes to just chill out and talk to each other. Read the room…notice the energy!
The other side of this is making sure your teaching is student centered and engaging so that after that long assembly and a quick break, students are ready to get back to learning because they are excited about what they are doing. I have podcasts and blog posts about project based learning and student centered classrooms, but this part of teaching is an ongoing topic for this podcast!
So how do we do that if we are teaching online? I highly recommend this recent article from Edutopia, Reading the Virtual Classroom is Hard, but It Can Be Done by Youki Terada.
“Teachers of high-performing online classes, in other words, read the virtual room and collect feedback not just to gauge how well students understand the subject matter but also to identify any obstacles that may be preventing them from being able to fully participate.”
So, remember to read the room and adjust your plan if necessary. Our tools for reading energy are different than a paranormal investigator’s tools, but they work. Getting to know your students is the start, so that you can read their facial expressions and body language immediately. Giving students time to turn and talk means you can listen in to see if the lesson is going in the right direction and that students are engaged with the task. Your lesson should not be so precious to you that you don’t abandon or change lanes when students are not getting it or are disengaged. Student-centered teaching takes time to develop, but at its core is the students’ engagement and interest.