For the internal lexicon of this blog, a term which will certainly crop up again, one which describes a frequent scenario with scary accuracy for me:
The Sloshing Pail
Our students store their attention, energy, and perseverance in a sloshing pail. We’ve gotta help them steady that pail as we move on a path toward classroom activities. We steady the pail in small ways, almost always by eliminating distraction.
We steady the pail by:
- keeping our transitions between activities organized and short.
- speaking clearly.
- maintaining clear expectations for behavior.
We slosh the pail by:
- keeping a messy classroom.
- designing unclear worksheets.
- maintaining a tense classroom environment.
- stocking insufficient supplies
It is very easy to let attention, energy, and perseverance slosh out of the pail. It is very difficult to get it back in.