I am still wincing from this more than two weeks later: it's so demoralizing for a teacher amidst classroom chaos when a young student protests or even just announces gleefully, "But we're not learning anything!"
A lot can be chalked up to classroom management. But a comment like that immediately compels the teacher to check himself or herself on the acuity of the objective. Of course, my knee-jerk response was to put more pressure on that student to respond to my warm-up queries and make the injunction that they all model proper student behaviors when responding to a teacher-directed question.
The need for more student-directed inquiry is a tough nut to crack. It involves engaging them first, and somehow creating a meaningful context.
As for routines--it's a sad fact that students will rely on a set structure as not only an aid, but as a crutch for any actual learning. Students expect....Watch out!!
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