Now is about the time that you begin to hear grumblings in the teachers’ lounge about the lot we’ve been given and their ability to work independently. One of the things that makes me cringe is to hear that a particular class of students will not be doing independent work time this year because “these students” don’t know how.
My answer is that of course they don’t know how. It’s our job to teach them. Independence is not a state standard but it is essentially a content area.
Not teaching students how to work independently is like not teaching students how to read because they don’t know how. Yes, some classes come in and they work better on their own than others but if they can’t work on their own, that’s where you come in.
Don’t give up on your independent work time because students don’t know how to do it. Those students who don’t know how to work independently are the ones who need you the most.
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