Instructional Shift

I'd like your attention over here.

Our tai chi instructor, in the front of the room, was referencing his footwork during the long form. We were practicing how to move side-to-side. He demonstrated while explaining as we followed his lead.

Two practices are offered per week at our local movement studio; I usually manage to attend one of them. My personal goals are to be more mindful and reduce stress, part of our class's larger goal of reaching a level of independence. (Side note: my wife teaches Zumba in the same studio.)

Here is the thing about our practice: there is only one form. It's long, comprised of many actions in a specific sequence, but only one. Additionally, we spend the first twenty minutes of every class in flow practice to prepare our minds and bodies for upcoming instruction.

If tai chi were a literacy classroom, each day would consist of a) lots of practice with the essentials of the discipline, i.e. lots of authentic reading and writing, and b) small shifts in how we perform a specific action. We would be taking clear steps toward becoming successful readers, writers, thinkers and communicators.

Some of our classrooms, unfortunately, are not focused on getting better at the discipline. Instead it is hopping from one lesson to the next, making sure each standard is addressed. Subsequently, reading and writing is neither learned or appreciated at a deep level. The lessons and standards become the reasons for literacy. Our instruction serves the curriculum and assessment instead of the students.

How did we get so off track?

Tomorrow, let's change this trajectory. Ask yourself: what next step could/should your students take toward literacy excellence and independence? How will you guide them on this journey, step-by-step? Shifting our instructional focus back to the students is always the right pathway forward.

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