Have you ever met or heard of Anita Archer? Well she’s amazing and is a wonderful teacher and trainer. Something she encourages teachers to do is to “walk around and talk around.” This means literally walking around while you are instructing. That’s it. If you are running low on motivation this week and really want to add a big punch to your teaching, this is it. I promise student engagement will go way up!
What It Does For You
- Allows you to do quick checks on whether your students are understanding instructions.
- Gives you the ability to see if students are on task.
- Keeps students engaged in the discussion or activity because they won’t know when you’ll be by.
- Keeps you from having to shout to get student attention.
- Allows you to give small redirections without stopping instruction.
How To Do It
This one is so simple. Just start moving around ASAP. Try adding it in while you reading from the powerpoint. After writing something on the board, take 30 seconds to walk around the room. During discussions, try to keep moving while you ask questions. During centers, create a few minutes here and there to do a quick check of the classroom.
This works really well with positive praise. Praising students while you are checking behavior will increase that good behavior. Praising and walking around are a dynamite combination because they snuff out the mild unwanted behaviors quickly.
Be creative if you’re in a small group setting or an online environment. Can you check in on student’s screens occasionally? Ask on task questions sporadically? Move your chair closer or further from a student in the center? Walk behind the students at the center?
Wrapping It Up
This is powerful and takes no tools, training, resources, or even much effort. What more can I say? You’ve got to add this in!
Let me know about how this is going in your room!