Education must leave three points blank

Source: [China Teachers’ Daily]

"Hanging water! At least a week! " The doctor’s words gave me a record of resting for more than 4 hours during the day. The music started slowly, and the room was very quiet, so I left time blank and was alone with myself. How long has it not been so pleasant?

I closed my eyes and let my thoughts fly like a wild horse … Suddenly, a boy’s figure came to my mind: besides attending classes every day, he just made up his homework, rewrote his homework and corrected his homework … Was he also bored and tired in those days?

Blank space: respecting students’ needs

Xiaoyong is a fifth-grade boy. He is white and fat, and he has certain obstacles in reading. His mother often shakes her head: "The words that the child wrote silently the night before will not be silent the next morning." However, if you pay attention to the lecture, Xiaoyong can judge simple math problems quickly and correctly, and occasionally get "excellent" in the practice test of observing figures and determining positions. However, after entering the senior year, Xiaoyong’s scores in all subjects dropped significantly. It has become my compulsory course to urge him to finish and revise his homework every day. Writing, making up and reading have also become Xiaoyong’s main tasks after school. However, gradually, holding the pen, he often lost his mind, staring at the little friends playing outside in a daze, and the time for making up homework was obviously extended …

Thought of here, I suddenly understand. Faced with a life without leisure, we adults also feel depressed, let alone children? Shouldn’t children grow up in games and laughter? The day when you make up your homework after class and continue to do it after dinner may be tolerable for children for a day or two. After a long time, how can you not be bored?

After feeling Xiaoyong’s inner dissatisfaction and helplessness, I began to adjust my working style.

In order to increase Xiaoyong’s rich and positive emotional experience, I adjusted the time for him to make up his homework, from recess to when I was on duty at noon or at night, to ensure that he had a certain rest or relaxation time before making up his homework. I set a "green channel" for him, so there is no need to queue up when submitting the revision. I promised him that I could ask for a 5-minute rest if I felt tired during the completion of my homework. I "slimmed down" his homework, and after asking other teachers for permission, I checked the basic questions for him to finish, and marked others as free from writing. A series of practices enable Xiaoyong to complete his personalized tasks, speed up the completion of homework, and have more time to play with his friends. He has a positive emotional experience every day, instead of dawdling, from "others want me to do it" to "I want to do it", and his sense of self-identity has quietly increased.

I also asked Xiaoyong to be the lunch manager, to encourage students to praise Xiaoyong’s enthusiasm and other advantages in class meetings, and also asked Xiaoyong to prepare a notebook he liked to record his little progress. His small positive actions were written in my notebook in time, and my parents signed it every week to share the joy. Slowly, Xiaoyong became strong and optimistic, and his evaluation of himself became higher and higher, and he became more active in learning.

As a living individual, students have unlimited vitality. When educators see the inherent potential of learners, they will leave three points blank in education and give them room for free development. As a student, if he keeps reading and writing every day and just wants to improve his grades a little, he must not be a happy child because he has lost the rich experience of his childhood. The lack of students’ internal driving force can easily lead to the decline of learning ability after grade growth.

Educators should give students free time and space, pay attention to their independent development, cultivate their external adaptation and support perception factors, enhance their sense of self-efficacy, cultivate their lofty ideals of contributing to society and the country, and let their hearts have long-term learning motivation. On the other hand, educators’ too detailed requirements, too high expectations, too much homework and too tight management may cause students to be rebellious, irritable and tired of learning, and even extreme events. Only by knowing the education of blank space can students have enough stamina.

Blank space: enriching the memory of educators

A little sick leave, let me experience that when people are idle, their brains will think deeply and further produce educational wisdom. When the work schedule is full, anxiety, insomnia and impatience are inevitable; If the memory of the mind is insufficient, life will be stuck. When teachers devote all their energy to attending classes, correcting homework and other matters, they have no time to study, think about whether their educational methods are appropriate, whether they are over-managed, whether their concepts are too old, and even have no time to manage their own parent-child relationship, etc., one day they will be tired of various relationships that have not been handled well.

As an educator, if he is immersed in the students’ homework every day and keeps his eyes on the students’ achievements, he must not be a happy teacher, because he ignores other scenery in the educational process. The introduction of "double reduction" policy, reducing students’ excessive homework burden and reducing off-campus training of disciplines is necessary for the development of education and a good thing for educators to grow up healthily. Leave three points blank in education, which means that we don’t cross the line and do nothing. Let’s leave some time to recharge and adjust ourselves, set aside time to learn various knowledge, form the habit of timely reflection, and add energy to our hearts regularly. Because, education is a seamless art of "the cup overflows".

Blanking: Improving the Quality of Home-school Communication

If school education wants to be long-lasting, it must get the cooperation of parents. The concept of positive psychology holds that most people do their best at any time. I believe that parents whose children are not performing well also want to establish contact with their teachers, but they will subconsciously avoid it if they have some concerns. So I took the initiative to communicate with Xiaoyong’s parents. From the beginning, I affirmed the love and dedication of parents to their children and praised Xiaoyong’s subtle progress. I also invited Xiaoyong’s father to participate in the "Parents in Class" activity, telling his work story, and enhancing students’ understanding and respect for him … Gradually, Xiaoyong’s parents became active in communicating with me, and he was very touched by the teacher’s sincere help to the child’s growth.

In the face of children’s shortcomings, it is normal for teachers to be dissatisfied and complain. However, whether talking to students or communicating with parents, if the teacher "speaks his mind straight", leaving no room when speaking, and his words are too sharp, it may hurt the other person’s self-confidence, diminish the other person’s sense of self-efficacy and bring educational resistance. Only by working hand in hand with students and parents can teachers form a joint force of home-school education and promote the healthy growth of the class. Teachers should always cherish the self-restraint of "being reasonable makes people three points" and show the generosity of "being reasonable and forgiving" and the wisdom of "not saying enough" in order to achieve the harmony among others, themselves and the situation and receive the ideal communication effect.

Blank space in painting and calligraphy means that the picture pays attention to the hierarchical layout and leaves blank space, which symbolizes the nature of heaven and earth and has a profound sense of time and space. So is the art of education? Education must leave three points blank, so as to keep one’s educational life and educational objects in the best state all the time, feel the happiness of life and bloom the wonderful life.

(The author is the Second Affiliated Primary School of Nantong Normal School, Jiangsu Province)

This article comes from China Teachers’ Daily and only represents the author’s point of view. The national party media information public platform provides information dissemination and dissemination services.

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