Last week, I was walking to the bank when I saw two plates of cake remnants sitting in the grass. They weren't styrofoam; it wasn't just litter. They were actual dishes. While that's one of the weirder things I have seen while out walking, it is not the only weird thing. I've seen pairs of mismatched shoes, hundreds of rabbits and squirrels and unattended cats, and you would not believe how many condoms are just sitting on the side of the road.
Why have I seen those things while you have missed them? Because I am on foot. There's a different world going on that you don't see from your car but you will see if you are walking or jogging. Since I also have a lot of thinking time when I am walking, I have thought a lot about why this is. Why do I see the plate of cake when I walk to the bank when I would never have seen them from behind the wheel? I think it boils down to three things.
Proximity - When out walking on the sidewalk, I am closer to the side of the road than when I am in the car. Therefore, I am able to see the bra that someone left next to the bus stop or hundreds of unexplained feet of twine. Simply being closer to it makes the invisible visible.
Speed - When driving, I am going anywhere from 25mph to 60mph, depending on the road. When walking, I am moving at 4mph. That means I have time to read the signs and notice that there is an oddly placed exclamation point (Is that really something you need after the phrase "Zoned for commercial"?).
Gaze - When driving, you keep your eyes, as you should, on the road. When you look left and right, it is at car height level. You don't look up and notice the cracked chimney or gaze into the distance and see that there is a party bus parked on the side street every day for two weeks only to be followed by a 1980s church van for the next month. (Does the guy who lives there collect strange vehicles? I have so many unanswered questions.)
What does all of this have to do with education? There are a lot of things going on with our students that we might not notice if we get too focused on our destination and not on our path.
Proximity - The hardest part of virtual teaching was that we no longer had proximity to our students. They were in their own homes, often with their cameras off. We couldn't hear the sounds they make when they are confused or see that they seemed more tired or sad or angry than usual. We couldn't lean over their shoulder and see the minor mistake they were making on a problem that was going to lead to a wrong answer. As we return to school this year, it is important that we take advantage of our return to proximity. I know that Covid isn't done with us yet, so I am not suggesting that you violate social distancing (which has been changed to three feet!), but you will have students in front of you. Take advantage of it to notice what you weren't noticing last year.
Speed - I tend to get goal-focused. There's a place I have planned to get to by the end of a class period, and if the first-period class got to that point, I want to make sure second-period gets there as well. If we aren't careful, we can miss moments of student curiosity while we try to reach that point. Don't let a teachable moment pass you by without acknowledgment. If you truly cannot afford to slow down (because there are complicated reasons why that may be true), then make a note of the students' question and look it up to address later. I have the advantage of being able to email my students, so I can take a few minutes at the end of the day to look up the answer to their question and send them a link to an article or youtube video that will help answer their question. I know that not every school allows that, but you can start class the next day with, "Hey, I found the answer to your question. It is . . ." I've seen our chemistry teacher write it in the agenda for the day on the board, and I think it is so great for a student to see, "Answer Ben's question" on the day's agenda. It's obviously great for Ben, but it sends a message to all the other students as well about how much she cared to find out the answer and then put answering it into the lesson plan for the day.
Gaze - Even the quietest students communicate volumes non-verbally. However, we have to be very intentional about noticing it. I have a hard time with this one. I hear everything, but I tend not to notice things visually. A student has sat in my classroom with a hat on for half a class period before I noticed. For some teachers, eye contact with individuals is totally natural, but even after 22 years, I have to remind myself to do it because it is so important.
This may sound intimidating, but it is just a change of perspective. It doesn't mean doing something different. It means doing it differently. Changing your perspective will change what you see.
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