Recent Writing
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Learning What to Notice
I learned about teaching by teaching. I started with a blank slate and encountered curiosity, trepidation, joy, a new type of relationship—teacher to student—big feelings, students looking at me to be the expert, lesson planning, and this huge responsibility, all at the same time.
At first, I didn’t even know what to notice or look for to organize everything. I just had to look at what was in front of me and do the best I could. I needed calm. Patience. An open mind. A willingness to learn, try things, and accept feedback and constructive criticism. By paying attention to the necessary tasks that go along with being a teacher, I started to learn.
Teaching is a social profession, and communication is at its core: with students, parents, families, other teachers, administrators, staff—everyone you encounter while wearing your teacher hat. Being open is one of the best qualities a new teacher can have, in my opinion.
But being open—and staying open—is also central to continuing to learn after you’re no longer a new teacher. Things change. Students are different from each other, and cohorts are different too. Social contexts change: new schools, new student populations, new districts, new states, even new countries. There will also be new teaching strategies, new curricula, new coaches and administrators, new directives, and new rules. Being flexible and open helps us navigate the dynamic spaces we work in.
The more we learn, the more we are able to notice, and the more there will be to learn.
You will encounter teaching strategies and practical ideas here, but not as cookie-cutter solutions. A strategy that works beautifully in one classroom may fall apart in another. The question isn’t only “What should I try?” but “What is happening here that makes this worth trying—and what should I notice afterward?”
That means asking questions of ourselves and honestly reflecting on our lived classroom experiences. From those experiences, we can begin to understand, through a reflective process, the unique situations and dynamics of our classrooms and what we as teachers can do to shape and guide them toward our goals—social-emotional, developmental, academic, and otherwise.
Our explorations will also be guided by leading and foundational research from the field, interpreted and presented here in an understandable and usable form. Research can give us new ways of looking at familiar situations, introduce possibilities we might not have considered, and inform the questions we ask about our own classrooms.
My hope is that when you encounter something useful here, you’ll write yourself a note and take it with you into your classroom tomorrow. Look at the situation in front of you and see whether you notice something you might not have noticed before. That’s a first step toward finding a solution, making a plan, or discovering a new and helpful direction to take.
Reading the Classroom is beginning as part of my graduate coursework in Digital Rhetoric & Writing at the University of Memphis. During this first semester, some of the writing here will therefore move beyond the physical classroom to explore digital rhetoric, online communication, public discourse, and the ways digital spaces shape how we communicate with and interpret one another. I’m interested in what these explorations can add to the questions about communication, interpretation, and reflection that brought me to this blog in the first place.
As teachers, we have a lot of autonomy. That can be both a blessing and a curse. I want us to work on turning it into a blessing.
That’s what I hope to explore with Reading the Classroom.
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Learning What to Notice
I learned about teaching by teaching. I started with a blank slate and encountered curiosity, trepidation, joy, a new type of relationship—teacher to student—big feelings, students looking at me to be the expert, lesson planning, and this huge responsibility, all at the same time.
At first, I didn’t even know what to notice or look for to organize everything. I just had to look at what was in front of me and do the best I could. I needed calm. Patience. An open mind. A willingness to learn, try things, and accept feedback and constructive criticism. By paying attention to the necessary tasks that go along with being a teacher, I started to learn.
Teaching is a social profession, and communication is at its core: with students, parents, families, other teachers, administrators, staff—everyone you encounter while wearing your teacher hat. Being open is one of the best qualities a new teacher can have, in my opinion.
But being open—and staying open—is also central to continuing to learn after you’re no longer a new teacher. Things change. Students are different from each other, and cohorts are different too. Social contexts change: new schools, new student populations, new districts, new states, even new countries. There will also be new teaching strategies, new curricula, new coaches and administrators, new directives, and new rules. Being flexible and open helps us navigate the dynamic spaces we work in.
The more we learn, the more we are able to notice, and the more there will be to learn.
You will encounter teaching strategies and practical ideas here, but not as cookie-cutter solutions. A strategy that works beautifully in one classroom may fall apart in another. The question isn’t only “What should I try?” but “What is happening here that makes this worth trying—and what should I notice afterward?”
That means asking questions of ourselves and honestly reflecting on our lived classroom experiences. From those experiences, we can begin to understand, through a reflective process, the unique situations and dynamics of our classrooms and what we as teachers can do to shape and guide them toward our goals—social-emotional, developmental, academic, and otherwise.
Our explorations will also be guided by leading and foundational research from the field, interpreted and presented here in an understandable and usable form. Research can give us new ways of looking at familiar situations, introduce possibilities we might not have considered, and inform the questions we ask about our own classrooms.
My hope is that when you encounter something useful here, you’ll write yourself a note and take it with you into your classroom tomorrow. Look at the situation in front of you and see whether you notice something you might not have noticed before. That’s a first step toward finding a solution, making a plan, or discovering a new and helpful direction to take.
Reading the Classroom is beginning as part of my graduate coursework in Digital Rhetoric & Writing at the University of Memphis. During this first semester, some of the writing here will therefore move beyond the physical classroom to explore digital rhetoric, online communication, public discourse, and the ways digital spaces shape how we communicate with and interpret one another. I’m interested in what these explorations can add to the questions about communication, interpretation, and reflection that brought me to this blog in the first place.
As teachers, we have a lot of autonomy. That can be both a blessing and a curse. I want us to work on turning it into a blessing.
That’s what I hope to explore with Reading the Classroom.
-
Learning What to Notice
I learned about teaching by teaching. I started with a blank slate and encountered curiosity, trepidation, joy, a new type of relationship—teacher to student—big feelings, students looking at me to be the expert, lesson planning, and this huge responsibility, all at the same time.
At first, I didn’t even know what to notice or look for to organize everything. I just had to look at what was in front of me and do the best I could. I needed calm. Patience. An open mind. A willingness to learn, try things, and accept feedback and constructive criticism. By paying attention to the necessary tasks that go along with being a teacher, I started to learn.
Teaching is a social profession, and communication is at its core: with students, parents, families, other teachers, administrators, staff—everyone you encounter while wearing your teacher hat. Being open is one of the best qualities a new teacher can have, in my opinion.
But being open—and staying open—is also central to continuing to learn after you’re no longer a new teacher. Things change. Students are different from each other, and cohorts are different too. Social contexts change: new schools, new student populations, new districts, new states, even new countries. There will also be new teaching strategies, new curricula, new coaches and administrators, new directives, and new rules. Being flexible and open helps us navigate the dynamic spaces we work in.
The more we learn, the more we are able to notice, and the more there will be to learn.
You will encounter teaching strategies and practical ideas here, but not as cookie-cutter solutions. A strategy that works beautifully in one classroom may fall apart in another. The question isn’t only “What should I try?” but “What is happening here that makes this worth trying—and what should I notice afterward?”
That means asking questions of ourselves and honestly reflecting on our lived classroom experiences. From those experiences, we can begin to understand, through a reflective process, the unique situations and dynamics of our classrooms and what we as teachers can do to shape and guide them toward our goals—social-emotional, developmental, academic, and otherwise.
Our explorations will also be guided by leading and foundational research from the field, interpreted and presented here in an understandable and usable form. Research can give us new ways of looking at familiar situations, introduce possibilities we might not have considered, and inform the questions we ask about our own classrooms.
My hope is that when you encounter something useful here, you’ll write yourself a note and take it with you into your classroom tomorrow. Look at the situation in front of you and see whether you notice something you might not have noticed before. That’s a first step toward finding a solution, making a plan, or discovering a new and helpful direction to take.
Reading the Classroom is beginning as part of my graduate coursework in Digital Rhetoric & Writing at the University of Memphis. During this first semester, some of the writing here will therefore move beyond the physical classroom to explore digital rhetoric, online communication, public discourse, and the ways digital spaces shape how we communicate with and interpret one another. I’m interested in what these explorations can add to the questions about communication, interpretation, and reflection that brought me to this blog in the first place.
As teachers, we have a lot of autonomy. That can be both a blessing and a curse. I want us to work on turning it into a blessing.
That’s what I hope to explore with Reading the Classroom.
-
Learning What to Notice
I learned about teaching by teaching. I started with a blank slate and encountered curiosity, trepidation, joy, a new type of relationship—teacher to student—big feelings, students looking at me to be the expert, lesson planning, and this huge responsibility, all at the same time.
At first, I didn’t even know what to notice or look for to organize everything. I just had to look at what was in front of me and do the best I could. I needed calm. Patience. An open mind. A willingness to learn, try things, and accept feedback and constructive criticism. By paying attention to the necessary tasks that go along with being a teacher, I started to learn.
Teaching is a social profession, and communication is at its core: with students, parents, families, other teachers, administrators, staff—everyone you encounter while wearing your teacher hat. Being open is one of the best qualities a new teacher can have, in my opinion.
But being open—and staying open—is also central to continuing to learn after you’re no longer a new teacher. Things change. Students are different from each other, and cohorts are different too. Social contexts change: new schools, new student populations, new districts, new states, even new countries. There will also be new teaching strategies, new curricula, new coaches and administrators, new directives, and new rules. Being flexible and open helps us navigate the dynamic spaces we work in.
The more we learn, the more we are able to notice, and the more there will be to learn.
You will encounter teaching strategies and practical ideas here, but not as cookie-cutter solutions. A strategy that works beautifully in one classroom may fall apart in another. The question isn’t only “What should I try?” but “What is happening here that makes this worth trying—and what should I notice afterward?”
That means asking questions of ourselves and honestly reflecting on our lived classroom experiences. From those experiences, we can begin to understand, through a reflective process, the unique situations and dynamics of our classrooms and what we as teachers can do to shape and guide them toward our goals—social-emotional, developmental, academic, and otherwise.
Our explorations will also be guided by leading and foundational research from the field, interpreted and presented here in an understandable and usable form. Research can give us new ways of looking at familiar situations, introduce possibilities we might not have considered, and inform the questions we ask about our own classrooms.
My hope is that when you encounter something useful here, you’ll write yourself a note and take it with you into your classroom tomorrow. Look at the situation in front of you and see whether you notice something you might not have noticed before. That’s a first step toward finding a solution, making a plan, or discovering a new and helpful direction to take.
Reading the Classroom is beginning as part of my graduate coursework in Digital Rhetoric & Writing at the University of Memphis. During this first semester, some of the writing here will therefore move beyond the physical classroom to explore digital rhetoric, online communication, public discourse, and the ways digital spaces shape how we communicate with and interpret one another. I’m interested in what these explorations can add to the questions about communication, interpretation, and reflection that brought me to this blog in the first place.
As teachers, we have a lot of autonomy. That can be both a blessing and a curse. I want us to work on turning it into a blessing.
That’s what I hope to explore with Reading the Classroom.
About Alan
Alan K. Murray is an educator, teacher educator, and applied linguistics researcher. His work grows out of years of classroom teaching in the United States and abroad and a continuing interest in how teachers learn to notice, interpret, and respond to the complex interactions that make up everyday classroom life.
