April 27th: How to Build a More Powerful Classroom by Letting Go

I struggle with the concept of letting go.  I know I cannot control everything, but I like to control what I can (even if it is something someone else can control for me.) Most students are used to teachers who are controlling so they are not always ready to handle this kind of freedom in the classroom.

The bottom line is that students need to learn how to work with other people, get along, stay focused, stay on task, work through distractions and work through frustrations.  These skills are vital for future success and we need to give students the opportunities to practice these skills.  This means giving up control.  When a teacher controls everything in the classroom, we are creating a monster of dependency.  In the short term it may make things easier, but in the long term it is not what is best for our students.

How do we let go?

We need to be intentional about the skills we are teaching students.  We need to focus on the "hidden" skills: staying focused, working with others, breaking down a large task and similar skills that are not the main focus of our curriculum.