All year I have been waiting for a student leader to really shine and be confident when leading the class. Students were either too meek or too silly. It just wasn't meshing with the flow of the class so I had resorted to continuing to lead myself.... until yesterday! A brave, confident, commanding student leader arose from the masses of students below to lead my class. He was clear and dynamic. He inspired energy and enthusiasm from my often subdued (during a lesson) and passive class. It was teacher heaven at first Class/Yes! I retrieved my WBT button that had been patiently waiting to be used all year and fastened it to this young man's shirt. He was so proud and continued to lead and inspire all day. What an amazing Whole Brain Teaching moment...oooohhhhh yeaaaah!
How exciting! How do you provide your students with opportunities to lead? Are there certain activities/subjects where they are given a chance to lead or can it be during any class? I would love to hear more!
ReplyDeleteThere are certain routines that we do everyday where I might ask a student to lead. Sometimes, I allow them to transition us from carpet to desk work. Often, if they make a really keen observation or summarize a concept exceptionally well I ask them to come up and teach the class. Sometimes, I will point to them and they will do the Class/Yes! or the Teach/OK! for me. Whatever I need them to do they are ready and waiting to do it! I get a really energetic response from the rest of the class as well - they are so excited that one of their own is leading!
ReplyDeleteThose are great ideas! I am just student teaching now so I do not have a lot of opportunity to really try out as much WBT strategies as I did during my last placement but I will remember these suggestions for next time!
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