Don’t assume for one second that your students know how to interact with a teacher in a lighthearted and cooperative way with plenty of eye contact.
It doesn’t seem to be the time in history for that. It is more of a dark time, when people of different races and ages and beliefs eye each other with distrust. It is the time of Mordor.
BUT, just because your kids don’t how to do that, never learned, are afraid on some level of most of their teachers, etc. doesn’t mean that they can’t be taught how to do those things. If we teach our children well right now in the first days of the year, we will see some light in their eyes all year long. But we have to start the process. How?
Oh the usual things:
SLOW
CIRCLING
PERSONALIZING
TEACHING TO THE EYES
GETTING THE KIDS TO FOCUS ON THE MEANING AND NOT THE WORDS
LEARNING TO LAUGH
TEACHING THEM HOW TO PLAY THE GAME OF SUGGESTING CUTE ANSWERS TO OUR QUESTIONS
Just the usual stuff….
But we need to be brave.
The Problem with CI
Jeffrey Sachs was asked what the difference between people in Norway and in the U.S. was. He responded that people in Norway are happy and
