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I don’t often do threads on twitter but this one seemed to resonate so, to keep it, here it is in blog form. I like the way the threading creates a stanza effect… lots more I could expland on but I’ll it be itself.

Here’s a thread – on life in the distant corners.  I sit there often; this is what I observe.  Sometimes literally the distant corners of classrooms .. but often these are metaphorical corners, where the strugglers are struggling..   or going unnoticed. Because teaching is hard!

In the corners, engagement is harder:.  

>You can’t hear well.. teacher talk and student responses are happening over there… you strain to listen; it takes effort. It’s hard to follow. 

>You can’t see. Text on screen, the demo, the picture, the boardwork – small and fuzzy

The peer chat bubble is strong.. there’s a forcefield around you.. the lesson is happening over there, not here where the students are immersed in their whispered verbal or non-verbal exchanges.

The teacher-student dialogue range doesn’t reach. Other students seem fully engaged in the to and fro, the buzz, but back here in the corner, we’re relegated to being observers.. the questions never come our way.. the lesson moves on. We were never asked.

It seems to be a circulation no-go zone.  The desks are all in the way, it’s a long way from the desk-board control station.. too far to wander from.. so the reaffirming check-ins never happen, that bit of interest in the work.. over there, sure, but not over here.

In the corners things can  go unnoticed

The student is on the wrong page, doing the wrong questions.. they don’t realise; nor does anyone else. 

The students’ wrong or weak answers go undetected; they don’t surface. Even their green pen corrections are wrong. Unseen.

The corner student suffers total disconnect. Off in another world. Physically present; mentally absent. Adrift.  The gap between what’s happening over there and what reaches us here, is just too big.. it’s a chasm.   Unbridged. Under the radar.

In the corners there can be total inertia. Can’t get started, can’t get going.  Where to begin? The task is overwhelming.  The distance too far.  Like a bus leaving the stop.. you’re never going to make it, you let it go. And wait. Eventually it’ll be over.

Of course, all this is harder in bigger classes, bigger spaces or more congested spaces or with a wider range of student attainment.  It’s really very hard to notice everything… But it’s got to be worth a thought.  Where are the corners in your class and what’s it like there?

Here's a 🧵on life in the distant corners. I sit there often; this is what I observe. Sometimes literally the distant corners of classrooms .. but often these are metaphorical corners, where the strugglers are struggling.. or going unnoticed. Because teaching is hard!

— Tom Sherrington (@teacherhead) June 22, 2023

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