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How do we balance teacher expectations with student engagement?

We struggle to achieve balance with so many parts of our lives. We see things in dichotomies and try to weigh one against the other believing that we must give time to one and not the other. This tendency to see things in often false dichotomies leads to the problem of the "want to' vs the 'have to'. Unfortunately, when we are faced with this dilemma we often make a choice in favour of the 'have to' but we chose this option for the wrong reasons.

A question of balance...

Stepping Aside: The Art of Working With Student-Teachers\n\nTeacher Leaders Network Although traditional teacher-education programs rely on veteran educators to invite student- or "practice-" teachers into their classrooms, many skilled professionals can be heard expressing some reluctance about sharing instructional responsibilities with green recruits. They may be concerned about their ability to mentor an inexperienced colleague effectively, or simply hesitant to relinquish control of instruction in an atmosphere of high-stakes accountability.\n\nIn a recent post to the Teacher Leaders Network Forum daily discussion group, veteran teacher Vicky expressed some reservations of her own about working with a student-teacher and asked for help.\n\nI may be getting the opportunity to work with a student-teacher. I was wondering about your ideas for starting the year off right, helping the student-teacher, and balancing the load of mentoring the student teacher and teaching the students myself. I'm excited about the possibility, but I'm also a pretty hands-on control freak kind of person, so I want to alternately challenge and excite the intern but not be unfair or scary. Tips?\n\nNancy, a veteran K-12 music teacher, replied:\n\nGreat questions, Vicky. My first suggestion would be adopting the perspective that you will learn as much as the novice teacher-about yourself, your beliefs, and your practice. The first step is probably building a relationship in which the novice teacher trusts you enough to share real information and opinion (and vice-versa).\n\nCreate a safe space to communicate honestly, in both directions. A student teacher who feels comfortable enough to share fears, anxieties, confusion, and frustration-and knows that he or she is not being judged, but honored as a learner by a veteran teacher who also has fears and frustrations-will be a student teacher who can grow.\n\nMy second thought is that from your students' perspective there should be two experts

As represented, the Citizen Journalism movement is meant to democratize access to the news and broaden the range of perspectives available. But what happens if our students commit to this work without any regard for objectivity? for verifiability? for balance?

A game where players must make decisions to balance the environment with power needs. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/PSHE,+RE,+Citizenship,+Geography+&+Environmental

Montrose, Colorado, population 19,000, located in the western part of the state, is about to become a case study in work/life balance theory. Colorado Outdoors, a planned development designed specifically to attract outdoor industry businesses is set to host a welcoming/coming out party in December. And unlike any other outdoor business campuses, this one includes hundreds of housing units too, a small, pre-fab town for outdoor enthusiasts.

Identifying what our children need to learn is one of the most important processes within education. For the teacher this is the question they engage with as they design their teaching and learning units. By no means is this an easy task and the teacher must balance multiple factors to ensure that the programmes they design provide their students with the learning they require. Even the most effective sequence of lessons is of little value if what it sets out to teach has little importance in the lives our learners are likely to lead. 

"We've all been there… you are excited. You have the perfect lesson planned. You have been laminating and cutting out for half the night and your plan has just the right balance of pace, content and skills to move your pupils on. But as the pupils arrive, something is… off. Our pupils bring more baggage with them into the classroom than just a satchel. Whether it is issues within the previous lesson, or problems the pupils bring with them from home, how can we mitigate the negative impact on learning and ensure that pupils are ready to learn?"

"In 1970 Paulo Freire published Pedagogy of the Oppressed in response to the antiquated notion of education as filling empty vessels, where an oracular educator lectures ignorant learners, arguing instead for a change in the power balance in the classroom so instead of authoritarian teachers choosing the path of learning, a collaboration of teacher-students and student-teachers would form to make learning bespoke through critical dialogue and critical assessment of the knowledge is being, and in the process, change the world around them."

"As Thomas Newkirk says in Critical Thinking and Writing: Reclaiming the Essay, "When essays become formulaic, they hinder rather than foster critical thinking." - read some aspects of writing that will provide more balance in approaching the writing process and critical thinking with students.

"Despite our best efforts, teachers inevitability bring school work home with them at least occasionally, which can impact on family life and make a mockery of our work/life balance. Yet, are there advantages to completing school work at home, as well as the obvious disadvantages? Once we decide to complete work at home, are we doing so most effectively and in an appropriate environment, or are we trying to juggle marking spelling books while binge-watching a box-set?"