‘Bumpy’ Moments in Teaching
“Bumpy” moments in teaching are inevitable, it’s how they are handled that decides weather they are moments of growth as a teacher or disaster. I think that all bumpy moments are unplanned and therefore unavoidable but there are ways to make them appear smoother. One thing is to always have back up lesson plans, including the materials that are needed. Another thing would be to prepare some answers to possible questions that kids might ask during a specific lesson, this way you wouldn’t be so caught off guard.
“Bumpy” moments require immediate reaction and that makes me nervous because I worry that I may fail in those moments. I think an important part of “bumpy” moments is what you do with them after. I think that inquiry is an excellent way to really dig into a bumpy moment and learn more about why it happened, how it was deal with and how it could be handled differently. This inquiry may help prevent some bumpy moments but may also help the teacher become confident after a possibly a moment of weakness.
Hi Darci,
Your comments are very perceptive and reflective. Teachers who have been in the classroom a very long time still have bumpy moments where they don’t succeed but are OK with knowing that their learning is forever and mistake is just something to do differently next time. Your thoughts on being as organized as possible beforehand are right on!!