Learning is Learned.
Every year that I have been working in education, the “pre-plan” weeks ahead of the official school year are always juxtaposed with a fear of the school year and a sense of dedication in preparation. Even in the years when I felt above confident in my planning at the beginning of a school year, the plans inevitably altered.
Accompanying this are the frequent times where students end up teaching me something that I had not planned for. I remember working on discovery learning during a lesson on writing argumentative essays. This peculiar class of 7th graders had a very tough year, as this was Florida’s first year post-Covid living. During this time students were recovering from an all-time high panic that they did not truly understand — they witnessed teachers, parents, and mentors crumble under a societal collapse; meanwhile, students skillfully adapted to digital lifestyle. Anyways, in our discovery learning, we diagrammed an argumentative essay with counterclaim and rebuttal centered in the diagram (picture not found). The formation of this model opened up new pathways for how I could provide instruction. I just remember standing in awe at such a small thing.
Get Austin Spidell’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Both examples above, as silly or minute as they might be, remind me that learning is a process that is learned no matter how much educational experience or planning is accomplished.
We must remember to continuously learn from each other, and refrain from making assumptions about our concrete knowledge.
