How an Unplanned Action Research Project and a Small Dose of Vulnerability Led to Better Student-Teacher Relationships and Joy in the Classroom DEVON ROTHSCHILD
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he summer before beginning my third year of teaching Middle School Science, our faculty was tasked with reading “Neuroteach,”1 a book that focused on the connection between teaching and Mind, Brain, and Education Science. I also had the privilege of attending a five-day conference led by The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning,2 which also emphasized the importance of bringing researched practices into the classroom. Inspired by these two professional development opportunities, and with just enough teaching under my belt to know that I wanted to make more meaningful connections with my students, I knew my classroom was going to change. However, the changes that happened the following year and the impact on my students’ learning surprised even me, and made me love teaching more than I had imagined! A New Year I began the school year with a commitment to deepening my relationships with my students and a challenge of making
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learning more fun. Fun because it is a way to increase students’ deep cognitive engagement, and relationships because these underpin many research-informed strategies. I shared these goals with my students the first week of school, thinking they would help hold me accountable. I also decided to be very honest about how nervous I was to change my current practices. To bring more joy into my classroom, I would have to give up some control, and this was a scary thought for a highly-structured teacher. To my delight, my students responded well. Not only were they excited about the increase in fun, they were moved by my honesty and willingness to try things out of my comfort zone. I took them outside more. I started Fun Dart Friday, ending class ten minutes early every Friday to allow them to answer a formative question about the week’s learning and then earn points for their team by throwing darts at a dart board. (Don’t worry, they were plastic darts!) I made time to do a 2 x 10 with some students I was struggling to connect with—spending two minutes speaking to the same student about something
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