How to Refocus on your learners

We know it's easy to lose sight of our learners because there's just a lot of stuff in teaching, isn't there? It's sad but true. 

So how do we refocus on our learners when there is so much in our spaces and on our minds? Is it every really possible?

What it comes down to is a strategic use of time and energy when creating a student-centered classroom culture rather than a compliance-driven one. This means that we reconnect with our people first, then get to our to-do lists.

A few months ago, I wrote a short post for Achieve the Core on just this idea. Let's take a look at one of these ideas to refocus on our people, without complicating teaching or crowding the teaching space. 

One thing we can do is let our guard down.

What does this mean?

• We can be human! And express how much we rely on our coffee or tea as a source of sanity!
• We can ​be vulnerable with our students and share how we are feeling - this includes those feelings that can be viewed as negative. It's important our students recognize that we all have feelings and we can all share them. 
• We can share stories for students to get to know a bit about us.
• We can empathize with our learners, thinking about what they might be going through at home and in class​
• We can tell some dad jokes!

These are just a few simple ideas, things we likely often think about, but maybe do not always actually do for a refocus.

Fortunately, this requires no extra planning or resources! It's just a few minutes that can make your student's day.​

Read the Achieve the Core post, "Refocusing on Your Learners" here.
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