Hi lovelies,
One question I’ve been exploring these days is: What do I need to do, as a teacher, to be able to let go of the expectations I might be holding for the students in front of me, and re-focus my attention on meeting them where they are?
Last week I went home from one of my classes feeling frustrated with how I’d shown up that day – I was replaying everything I’d said and lamenting, oh god, why did I say THAT?
Because I’ve been learning a lot about my nervous system, I knew that for a lot of the class I’d been in an activated/agitated state. As I drove home, I began to pick apart why, and I realized that there were assumptions I had made about how quickly I needed to progress the work, on top of expectations I had set which had nothing to do with the students at all, and everything to do with impressing their primary teacher with my work.
I realized that because of these external pressures and unconscious assumptions, I’d been teaching a class that wasn’t trying to meet the needs of the students, but was instead trying to meet my own needs.
Of course this is what happens when our nervous system gets dysregulated, right? How can we expect ourselves to really see the students in front of us, identify their needs, and discern ways to meet them, if in the background our nervous system is freaking out and going ‘UMM HI THERE’S ACTUALLY LIKE THIS OTHER THING I’M WORRIED ABOUT?!?!’
Teachers: Have you ever had a similar experience?
In preparation for my next class, I did a couple of things differently.
>> First, I set new goals for myself that were better aligned with the needs of the students.
>> Next, I arrived early and I sat in my car for a solid 15 minutes regulating my nervous system – doing vocal warm-ups, breathing techniques, making stupid faces (to make myself laugh!), and reminding myself that in the end, my goal was simply to create a positive experience for these students experiencing this technique for the first time.
>> And while I was in class, I intentionally placed my attention on moments and micro-moments where students created something delightful, surprising, or just plain cool. And I named it for them, and drew their attention to it, too.
Boy howdy, the energy of that class felt so different. Students affirmed that they had had fun, and I felt like I was seeing their work through entirely different spectacles.
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My loves – I am BUSY this month! I am teaching and coaching a lot, which means you’ll be getting fewer emails and posts from me. But I am still here to co-create a dialogue with you about living a vibrant, sustainable creative life.
Do you have a question you’ve been investigating in your creative work?
I’d love to hear it. 🙂
With love,
Caitlin xx
P.S. First of the month my loves! I’ve got two free coaching sessions available on a first-come, first-serve basis. To claim them, email me at ca***************@gm***.com with “Free Sesh Please!” and I’ll let you know if you were one of the first two to reach out. Just a reminder for my overseas folks: I offer sessions online, as well as in-person. 🙂
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Would you like to chat about the ideas here? Or read more about this sort of thing? I send call-and-response email newsletters whenever I have the capacity to do so. It’s called “Rest & Love in Creative Living,” and you can join here.