Blog posting one:
One thing in class that I encourage as a student in class, as a student in life and as an educator is to ponder, ponder, ponder and to question, question, question. Rarely are there definitive answers in life as well as in education and being an educator. The more one teaches the more questions one has. The more one teaches in different settings the greater range of questions and ponders one has – there are no two school alike, there are no two students alike there are no two classrooms alike. One may teach in the same classroom all day – but each group of students that come into that classroom changes the complexion of the class and how one goes about teaching. Therefore it is really hard to teach each class the same way and that there needs to be theme in variation in how one teaches.
Please reply to this blog posting on this blog.
I like to ask students to identify favorite websites that they think all educators should know and why these websites all so good. I then compile these websites and make a list for the class. So on your blog site please reply to this blog posting.
25 comments:
After student teaching five sections of the same class, I totally agree that there are no two classes the same. To plan to teach the exact same material in the same way is not a realistic expectation. It only takes one student to drastically change the dynamic of a class.
I often ponder why life is such a rat race for students and teachers alike.
I question the role and involvement of our local government in our schools.
I often wonder where MS students get so much energy.
I want to know how to make a difference in every students life.
I always wonder how to have a lot of fun in the classroom and keep it in control.
What is wrong with this picture?
Having duly pondered over assorted aspects of education I am convinced there is something very wrong with this picture. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but something is definitely wrong.
1. Educational research. Even a cursory review of educational theorists, movements, etc. reveals a profundity of material. Classrooms, teachers, students, and schools have been studied and analyzed for generations. And the answer is….? Do we have any definitive conclusions? Have classroom practices evolved for the better? Are students learning more and better than ever before? The answer is not yes. So we do more research.
2. Leaders. Given all the time, talent, and money that is continually expended on education, is the United States the standard for the world? What teacher, parent, principal, superintendent, school board, or secretary of education isn’t doing everything possible to make his or her school district the best it can be? I know individuals in many of these roles and I believe them to be wholeheartedly committed to improvement. Yet our nation’s children still struggle to meet standards.
3. Teachers. The foot soldiers of education arrive with high hopes and eagerness. Many burn out. Read teacher training materials, blogs, or talk with teachers. What do they express? There aren’t enough hours in the day for teachers to meet all the demands put upon them. And then they feel guilty for what was left undone. For the students who failed, for the elements of the syllabus they just didn’t get to, for the creative ideas they wanted to try but just couldn’t fit in. How is it that the entry level workers feel responsible for the success or failure of a system over which they have very limited control?
4. Lesson plans. What do teachers do? Much time is spent on planning instruction. Teacher training programs emphasize lesson and unit planning. Does it make sense for new teachers to design instruction? In any given school each subject has been taught to countless classes by many teachers. How does that experience inform the process if every new teacher starts fresh? Shouldn’t unit and lesson plans be the collective products of each department? Shouldn’t they be developed and revised to reflect what worked, and incorporate the best ideas each teacher has contributed? Perhaps teachers should work on a rotation – after “x” semesters of teaching, spend a semester working on curriculum development, then another “x” semesters of teaching, etc.
5. Some assembly required. The research exists. The leadership is committed to improvement. Teachers arrive eager and willing to work. Curriculum materials and resources abound. Why do these ingredients not add up to an inspiringly successful model system of education? The elements must be assembled with wisdom, insight, efficiency, and effectiveness. Are the existing layers of beaurocracy and legislation helping or hurting? I can’t say. But there is definitely something wrong with this picture.
Five questions that I have about education are:
1. I believe that standards are not relevant to all students, why do some educators hold them in such high esteem? I am curious because anyone who has spent time in a classroom must have realized that you can’t have the same expectations for all students. I don’t know how I would go about finding the answer to this beyond simply asking those teachers who see great value in standards, why? Maybe it’s just my distain for the quality and scope of the Illinois standards.
2. I think it’s great when teachers collaborate, why isn’t it more common? I think I already know the answer to this one, but I still ask it because I think that teachers should share ideas because it can greatly benefit the students. I think the reason many do not is the fact that they say, “I worked very hard to make that, let them figure it out?” It’s selfishness.
3. Why is it so hard to accept inequities in students’ intelligence? I had a difficult time with this when I began grading essays and other work. I asked myself, “Why don’t they get it? How can I help them to understand?” I guess, I shouldn’t accept when students don’t understand. I will just try different ways to help them to understand.
4. How do you motivate students who do not want to do school work? When I student taught, I had very few students, three to be exact, who just didn’t want to do the school work, and did not care about the consequences. They puzzled me and reminded me of myself. There was a time when I had no motivation in school; I wish I could figure out how that changed, I guess I just grew up. How can I help students to not make the mistakes that I did in school?
5. How do you teach common sense? This is probably the toughest one. I have a great deal of common sense; I don’t see many other people out there with the same gift. One of the reasons that I began to pursue a job in teaching, not something I share often, is the fact that I spent five years working in a different capacity for a school district and when I would look around at many of the teachers, I would think to myself, “what a bunch of idiots, how can these people expect to teach children to be adults of any value to society?” So it falls on those of us blessed with intelligence and common sense to provide a good example for students.
Believe it or not, one of the most helpful websites I have found for class is www.wikipedia.org and as a social studies teacher, I have found some cool things at www.pbs.org.
Having taught for four years, I still have many questions about teaching and learning, education, pedagogy, and students. My questions, thought different from those I had in my first year, are no less numerous.
First, I continue to ponder ways in which I can encourage students to take more responsibility in my classroom. I have set up procedures in my classroom to make things run more smoothly so that students know what to do and do not have to ask for my help as often. I want them to be more self sufficient, but the question is how to make that more efficient. I am always looking for new ideas and better ways, but so much is trial and error.
Second, I have been working on grading based on the mastery of our district's Power Standards. I love figuring out how to ensure that my students' grade accurately demonstrate mastery of the material (regardless of the time it takes to master it) while still valuing growth. It has been very helpful to talk to some of the other teachers at my school about this issue. Our 6th grade English teacher and 8th grade ESL support teacher have both been valuable resources and sounding boards. We all went to a Rick Wormeli conference together, which was another great way to gather information on this topic.
Third, in my own personal and professional life I am always working to improve my organization. I am a very forgetful person and if I do not keep track of everything that I have going on I completely forget to do things. This is exacerbated by stress, so of course it is when I have the most to do that I tend to forget to do them. I can't imagine reading a book and learning how to be better organized or improving my memory, but perhaps that is what I'll have to do.
Fourth, to return to the realm of my classroom, I want to continue to challenge my higher performing students to the same degree as my struggling students. I try to have "challenge problems" available, but not all students take advantage of that. This goes towards motivating all kids to try the extra challenge problems. I also want to build better systems to provide choice of challenge *instead* of regular work as opposed to challenge *in addition* to regular work. I need to find ways to value their work without having it as points in their grade. Considering my mastery grading system, points would only put them about 100% (as they would be doing challenge work based on standards already met). Perhaps my first and fourth ponders are really the same thing...it's all about helping students take more ownership for their own learning.
Finally, I have been working with a student teacher this quarter, and she has reawakened my interest in cooperative work at the middle school level. I think it is so important for young adolescents to learn how to speak to each other, listen to each other, and generally work together. But teaching students how to do this is time consuming. Considering the push to teach all of the content of math, giving up time to teach group work is scary. That said, I know it is valuable. I have done some reading on this topic. I have a great resource called "Get It Together" which I use at the beginning of the year. I just need to build more cooperative group work into my daily curriculum and provide constructive feedback to improve their group work. Another work in progress I suppose.
Things I ponder about being an educator:
Why I need at least 1 hour of quiet in my room before and after class in order to feel effective for the day?
Currently, I am going through a struggle with myself as an educator. Throughout this year I have been questioned multiple times about my dedication and interest in education. One of my questions is what makes a dedicated educator? Is it me showing up every day ready to work with whatever comes my way? My passion to entertain children? Or does it come down to the knowledge of the background of education. As well as the basics of specific subjects? Through this struggle I have tried to emphasize my passion for the arts. But at times I get a smirk for stating out loud I WANT TO BE AN ART TEACHER. Why is there not an appreciation for the arts when they relate to every subject? Is it foolish of me to think that I can become an art teacher in an economy that riff Art at the drop of a hat as soon as the budget cuts come? You ask what I ponder, and these are the questions I ask myself daily. Will I be a good educator? Is the passion there? How will I succeed? Is this all worth it?
I know that I tend to ponder a lot. I am always asking myself "what if"? When it comes to education I often ponder on whether or not I made the right decision.
Here are some of the ponders that come to my mind most often.
1. Am I good teacher?
I feel like I am a dedicated and energetic teacher. However, do the kids and parents feel the same way? I think this is my own insecurity coming through. I have lsot my job 2 years in a row and I was told that it had nothing to do with me or my teaching ability. Is that true? or are they trying to let me down easy? Hmmm I wonder.
2. Should I be purchasing these titles?
As a library major I am faced with purchasing the books for my school. I always feel bad when blind purchasing. I wish I had the chance to read everything. However, if I read everything whether it is good to me is my opinion and it may not be the same opinion for someone else.
3. How do you fit into a group of experienced teachers?
I have a large personality and i am full of ideas and energy. I have felt in the past that many veteran teachers may feel threatened by me. i don't know how to go about letting them know that I am really a nice person looking out for the best interest of the students. It can be hard for a new teacher to assimilate. Anyone have any advice?
4. How involved should I be my first in extracurricular activities?
I felt very overwhelmed last year by all the events I felt I should be joining. I was a new teacher in a brand new library in a big school. i felt that it would look bad if I didn't volunteer for all the other activities and school events. I noticed that the teachers running these events were teachers that had already made tenure. I guess I ponder how much is too much and how much is too little?
5. When will the market come back in Illinois?
I graduated from college in 2004. at which time there were very few jobs available and I felt like I needed to know someone to get my foot through the door. i ended up taking a job at a publishing company for 3 years before trying to find a teaching position again. My first year I was hired and Rifed, and the same thing the next year. I was devastated last year because I realized that there were going to be major lay offs and I may not find another position. I am still applying for jobs but there seem to be too many candidates and not enough positions. Anyone have an estimate on how long it will be till the market in Illinois opens up?
Some questions and ponders…
- I am planning on becoming a math teacher, so I'm wondering how I can tie in some of the things I'm learning? How can I be creative and make it fun?
- How can I use this knowledge to successfully raise my 2 daughters and help them be successful in school?
- Why have our schools gone so far away from some of the research based findings on how to successfully educate our children. For example, what happened to the “play” time in kindergarten?
- How much freedom will we actually have in the school system to teach the way we are learning to teach? We are learning to vary our teaching strategies according to the students and let them be more empowered. How far can we really go with this? How restrictive are schools?
- How can I use my previous experiences (software engineer, travelling, parenting, etc.) in a teaching environment?
Why I have these questions/ponders… to become the best educator I can be, to help the students be successful learners.
How I would like to discover responses… by talking to as many teachers as possible to get their thoughts and experiences, by talking to career changers like me, by doing research on the internet, and reading books.
1. How do we find time, as teachers, to do creative and wonderful things in the classroom when there are so many "mandatory" curriculum and testing requirements?
2. How can I prevent the disruptive behaviors of a few students, from having a negative impact on the entire class?
3. What is the best way to manage parental communication extremes?
(those who don't respond to concerns, and those who want constant feedback)
4. What is the best way to ask for help (as a teacher), without appearing ineffective?
5. Why don't people return their shopping carts?
(While this may not seem related to being an educator, it brings up the question of how can we expect our students to be thoughtful, responsible citizens, when adult don't model this behavior!)
Most of these ponders, are based on my own observations-working in elementary schools in both the public and private sector. I know that many of my answers will come from trial and error. However, I'd love to hear from those in the trenches.
How can I keep my students engaged and interested in learning? There are so many other things that are going on in adolescents’ lives that directly compete with learning. Sports, friends and family issues all take priority over education. I would imagine that through trial and error and experience in the classroom, as well as soliciting feedback from students, would provide some insight to this question.
How do I handle overbearing or uninvolved parents? As a parent of three children, I try to be involved as much as possible with their school life. I make it a point to meet and know their teachers and work collaboratively with them. However, I know that not every student will have parents who are involved. Some will have parents that are too involved. This is not something I can control, but feel that it is my responsibility to make sure that each of my students receives the best possible educational outcome.
How will I prevent my own personal issues from affecting my teaching? Last quarter I had a class that talked about bringing “baggage” into the classroom. I have my own personal beliefs and values that make me who I am. I worry that I will allow these beliefs to manifest themselves as bias (positive or negative) in the classroom. I would like to interview experienced teachers to see how they handle this as I assume that this has come up often.
Will I be able to effectively meet the needs of all my students? Diversity exists in every classroom. I will have students from various religious and cultural backgrounds as well as different academic levels. Some students will have physical or learning disabilities. I want to make sure that I am meeting their needs successfully.
What if I feel burned out and end up hating the profession of teaching? I hear through the “grapevine” that many teachers end up leaving the field after 5 years. I want to know what I can do to not get burned out and still feel challenged and enthusiastic. Learning some tips from you, Dr. Mee, would be appreciated!
I think educators go into the teaching with noble intentions--make the world a better place by educating our society’s future generations. Teachers who achieve tenure seem to have long careers often at the same school. There are teachers that repeat one year of teaching 25 times and then there are teachers with 25 years experience teaching 25 different classes. I wonder what happens to teachers who repeat the same year of teaching 25 times. Is it tenure? Is it fear? Is it ignorance? Why do some teachers become complacent? I think the best way to ponder this question is to ask teachers. What do you think makes an effective teacher? How do you know that your students are engaged in the lesson? Do you ever get tired of teaching? Describe your perfect student?
I do not really understand how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) works. I get the basics--schools receive federal funding but they are required to assess progress through testing. Schools must improve every year or risk losing funding--this seems statistically impossible. I wonder what is the baseline? How much must a school improve annually to receive federal funding? If they meet the improvement, how much improvement is required the following year—the same percentage? I could probably try to research and read published federal information but it may be confusing. I think the best way to learn more about this topic is to talk to school faculty that executes NCLB testing.
Do untenured teachers pay union dues? Since unions do not really protect untenured teachers, I would think that they do not pay union dues but do not know. What is the point of a union? In our world today, are unions just middlemen or do they serve a real purpose? If there is no money to pay all the educators, then cuts must be made. I think that the union ensures that the teachers with the most tenure get to keep their positions. Is that what is best for the students? Talking with many educators from different teaching environments, union representatives, and administrative personnel is a great way to understand the issues and impact. Then do a little research to understand the history of the Union and see how it has helped and hindered history.
Many public school districts are reducing spending to compensate for the revenue shortages. As a result, educators are asked to do more for less. For example, increasing class size adds to the work burden placed on the educator. Instead of 25 students, some classes might contain 30+ students. Teachers have at least 20% more work to do by adding five students but they are not getting a 20% pay increase. This assumption does not take into consideration special needs students. I wonder how teachers do all that is required of them and effectively teach. At the opposite end of the spectrum, private school may only have 14 students per class and they have minimal students with special needs. It seems like a no brainer to prefer to teach at a private school but there must be drawbacks. What are they? The best way to ponder this question is to talk with educators in different school environments, ask them the same questions and draw my own conclusion.
Texas is one of the largest public education states in the country. As a result, textbook publishers often yield to Texas’ Board of Education about curriculum changes. I think it is insane to allow one state that much authority on curriculum. They could decide to eliminate add Robert E. Lee and eliminate General Grant. I would prefer to see curriculum that discusses both sides and lets the students draw their own conclusion. I wonder if a national curriculum would ever be mandated. This challenge requires a great deal of time to ponder the value and impact of a national curriculum. It would have a huge impact on our economy—job loss, anger from control loss from both the far left and far right, elimination of unions because teachers would become federal employees, easier to teach across state lines.
Managing Curriculum:
I’m very concerned with managing curriculum vs. making connections with students. In my student teaching last year, I had 154 students and I may have had one or two special, memorable, or notable moments each day. Did I spend too much time covering ‘big idea” concepts and did I miss the glazed over look in my student’s eyes? If I tried to be creative and make connections, did I miss my learning objectives? Maybe finding the happy balance takes years to achieve.
Reaching Students:
On that same note, I tried to be creative and vary my teaching styles. I tried several single and group activities, and gave non-traditional assessments. Every Friday night I was terrified that I either failed my students or my cooperating teacher. If 100 students enjoyed their time in class and appeared to learn something, but 50 didn’t, did I do a good job? Is 125 vs. 25 acceptable? What about 149 vs. 1? How do I reach that one student?
Student Resources:
I’m very interested in utilizing computer, video, and audio applications to enhance my classroom instruction, assignments, and assessments, but I’m also curious about how much is appropriate. I disagree that most students have access to these formats. Even in your presumed “affluent” schools there are students who cannot afford them. In my student teaching experience, my students ran the gamut from tech savvy to tech lacking. I’d like to minimize this gap without making students self-conscious or sensitive.
Age-Appropriate Curriculum:
Unfortunately, I have a history of looking at middle-schoolers as mini-adults. I’m beginning to see my error. I fear that I will have difficulty discussing complex issues but I do not want to “dumb-down” the conversations. Will I be able to discuss hot-topics like religion, sex, and politics at an appropriate level with factual data without offending students, parents, and the administration? I owe it to my students, but where do the limits of my job description fall?
The Business Side of Education:
These two MLE classes are my last at NLU to complete my MAT, and I’ve been shocked at the lack of discussion on the professional side of teaching. I know very little about unions, pensions, insurance, continuing education, diplomacy, teacher-faculty relationships, tenure, school-funding decisions, policy manuals, and teacher retention. I think I once heard that 3 out of 5 new teachers leave the profession before their fifth year, however we never discuss why. Why is that and how do I avoid it? Maybe the above list of topics can be learned only on the job.
My experience with student teaching has left me wondering about class control. Many of the students I taught were very unfocused and it was hard to keep them that way. They were at there best when taking notes from PowerPoint’s (with almost constant complaints about how much it hurt there wrists and fingers but they did it) and their worst when trying to do in class activities (the scariest was a lab where they taste tested a chemical used as an indicator). There were almost constant reminders about behavior, attitude, and respect told to them. Classroom management is really something that concerns me…
I would be interested in how I am going to allowing students to work within their own learning style. Will I be able to develop a curriculum to help individuals who might have a different style of learning learn.
I wonder how I am going to connect a good portion of my lessons to interesting current student friendly popular media without having kids of my own (I already see many of the projects that we are working on in this course helping out with this).
I ponder about if I will be able to excite students to learn science now and in the future. How I effectively broaden their horizons as well as focus their thoughts?
I feel I will have a hard time thinking of ways to quickly and effectively connect topics and ideas to core topics. A lesson that cannot connect the unseen world of the microscopic with the known world of the macroscopic is a loosing lesson. I have given this some thought because this was a point that I saw myself loosing when I student taught. Students didn’t like or understand atoms and elements section of their book because they had no concept of them. They were unable to “see” them so their focus waned a bit.
I know that getting started is the key. I have wet my feet, but still need to wade out and even swim. Time and practice. I tend to be a little proactive and this can lead to me becoming impatient when things move a little slow. The economy dragging down the “accessible possibilities” doesn’t help either.
www.npr.org (after this…everything pales in comparison)
www.biology4kids.com
www.chemistry4kids.com
http://www.biologyjunction.com/
http://www.webelements.com/
My first question is “What is it like to teach 3rd-5th grade versus 6th-8th grade? I know that in the elementary grades we have to teach a wide variety of material, whereas in 6th-8th we are limited to our one subject. It would be nice to know going in how that would be as I am very indecisive as to what I am shooting for.
My next ponder is “What is the best way to know if I “fit in” to a particular school?” I would like to find a school that shares my values of good communication, teamwork, creativity, and honesty.
My third and fourth questions are; what do you think the hardest part of teaching is, and can you offer me any advice on how to deal with it? From what I have learned so far, it seems that the political influences are the most frustrating. I would like to know if you agree, and if so what part of the actual teaching of lessons is the hardest part?
My final wonder is what activities have you initiated that were the most fun for middle school children? The least fun? I enjoy doing a variety of activities as I know you do as well, but if you had to pick a favorite…
I would like to discover the responses to these questions from your own perspective, or we could interview another teacher as well.
Five Ponders on becoming an Educator
Ponder One: I wonder how I'll pull all the skills necessary to tap all the bases I want during the day. This includes things like noting specific things each child did well during the week and sharing that with the child and with the parents. I want to optimize the power of positive feedback. I should probably refer to my notes from earlier classes and ask more questions going forward.
Ponder Two: I wonder how I'll adjust to potentially having narrow-minded and potentially hostile colleagues. This could potentially make my experience painful.
I'll probably have to learn how to solve this when and if the situation reoccurs.
Ponder Three: I wonder where I will get the tools to deal with Ponder Two, and where I can find support. Being a direct person has unforeseen drawbacks.
Ponder Four: I wonder where I will find continuously new sources of inspiration for lessons, and even if I get them, will I be able to use them in a class. Children can be moved by curiosity, wondering what each day will bring. I want my classroom to feel like a place they will be successful. Hopefully, I can connect with like-minded teachers and other sources.
Ponder Five: I wonder how I'll be sure to pick up on subtle cultural differences between my students and me. I want to make classroom management does not come across as neither punitive or too permissive. I will find answers to this in a greater variety of books on classroom discipline.
I wonder how do you know that you have everything ready before the students walk into class the first day....
Can i actually make a difference in a students life while teaching them a lesson.
I ponder why parents are either too involved or not involved at all in their child's education
I ponder how do they come up with the state/district standards and have a right to judge a student just by their test scores.
I want to feel that it is okay when a student asks a question i will not have an answer too.
Given that I am entering the field of education, I feel that I am sharing limited information. From a student’s perspective, I frequently log into the Illinois State Board of Education’s website (http://www.isbe.state.il.us/) so that I can keep current with issues, etc.
From a parent’s perspective, I check my children’s school websites as well as a website called Kids Health (http://kidshealth.org/) because it provides a nice overview about health and development at different ages.
Here are some websites that I think are useful: www.hardin.k12.ky.us/res_techn/countyjeopardygames.htm is a website that has PowerPoint jeopardy games already created by teachers based on curriculum. There are jeopardy games for all age groups. Middle School jeopardy games include Math, Atoms, Planets, Constitution, English Review, and Weather. I have not used any of these games yet but I like this site because: the games can be easily be modified because they are created in PowerPoint; there is no learning curve to use the jeopardy game—it’s super easy; and it is based on curriculum so you could use it “as is” if you looking for a fun activity.
www.cal.org (Center for Applied Linguistics) is a great English Language Learner (ELL) resource. They have accumulated massive quantities of research and will help you find answers to questions about English language learning.
www.youthnoise.com is a great site for teens that want to make a difference using the political road. First you can pick you cause or create your own and start blogging. The site has great resources on how to get started and useful tool kits.
www.wikipedia.com is a great site to use as a starting point. It provides enough information to get started and other links that may be useful.
www.facebook.com is a social networking site that I think you need to be familiar with as a middle school teacher. There is so much to learn and understand how the site works but it is important because of potential cyber bullying.
http://crafts.kaboose.com is a site to find cool projects to do in class. I found a great project for middle schoolers for earth day—decorating a compost bin and then making compost.
Sooooo many questions, soooo little time! Here's five...why does 45 minutes in a classroom feel like 4.5 minutes? Why are some students motivated to do their best and others apathetic? If a teacher is willing to provide extra help, why are the students who most need it, the least likely to get the help? Why do parents invest more time in their child's extracurricular activities than schoolwork? Why do I feel like such a failure because I can't seem to implement all the creative, cool ideas that I learn in seminars and classes? These are just some of the questions that haunt me on a daily basis. While I don't know the answers, just posing the questions is somewhat rewarding. I must say that my job switch from the corporate world to teaching has been the most humbling experience of my life. The hours are longer, the work is harder, the pay is a rounding error in comparison, but the fact that these questions trouble me is telling in and of itself. I'm sure I had questions about my other job, but none that "really" mattered so much so that they kept me up at night!
So many wonderful ponders which also cause me to ponder as well and to write responses - which are coming in a theatre near you.
Some questions and ponders…
- I am planning on becoming a math teacher, so I'm wondering how I can tie in some of the things I'm learning? How can I be creative and make it fun?
- How can I use this knowledge to successfully raise my 2 daughters and help them be successful in school?
- Why have our schools gone so far away from some of the research based findings on how to successfully educate our children. For example, what happened to the “play” time in kindergarten?
- How much freedom will we actually have in the school system to teach the way we are learning to teach? We are learning to vary our teaching strategies according to the students and let them be more empowered. How far can we really go with this? How restrictive are schools?
- How can I use my previous experiences (software engineer, traveling, parenting, etc.) in a teaching environment?
Why I have these questions/ponders… to become the best educator I can be, to help the students be successful learners.
How I would like to discover responses… by talking to as many teachers as possible to get their thoughts and experiences, by talking to career changers like me, by doing research on the internet, and reading books.
Five Ponders and Questions about being an educator:
1. I REALLY wonder how I'm going to find the time to plan the creative and comprehensive lessons I know I'm capable of creating and want to implement in my classes. In the handful of NLU courses I've taken so far, I've written a handful of lesson plans which have all turned out to be very comprehensive and good attempts at progressive instruction...and which took hours of research and planning to complete! How will I find the time, especially during my first year of teaching, to create the high level of instruction that I strive to provide? I'm hoping I'll figure out at least part of the answers to this question when I student teach at the middle school level by talking to various teachers at that school.
2. I totally embrace the ideals of the PIESS Plus approach to middle school curriculum. But how am I REALLY going to address each aspect of development of more than 100 students when I only see them for 45 minutes a day? It's a great theory that seems much easier to apply in an elementary school situation where you see the students all day...Perhaps the answer is that you strive toward this goal on a continuous basis, and focus especially on the group of students you have for homeroom. I would definitely like to discover responses to this question before I get my first teaching job!
3. If I end up teaching middle school math, I wonder how I'm going to be able to make my daily instruction be student-centered, creative and fun. Language arts, literature and even science are typically taught as whole units covered over a period of time, which allows time for long-term projects, group assignments and flexible lesson plans. Math chapters are typically divided into sections with one or two sections expected to be taught per day. This rate seems too fast to implement some of the great teaching strategies I've learned. Perhaps this will become clearer if I teach math when I student teach in middle school next year.
4. How am I going to truly connect well with students whose backgrounds are so different from mine, both culturally and school-wise? With my very traditional K-12 education, I think I'll need to especially remember NOT to teach as I was taught and constantly remember the methods and strategies I've now learned at NLU. And I think I'll have to learn a lot about different cultures on my own, to connect with my students. I suspect, partly from reading The Freedom Writers Diary, that simply showing each and every student that you care on a daily basis will go a long way in forming a connection with them.
5. When I start my first job and am part of a middle school team, how can I most successfully introduce new ideas into the curriculum, especially if working with teachers who are more traditional or set in their ways? I know I will be enthusiastic and ready to implement everything I've learned with regard to middle school education. How do I do this without alienating team members? I suspect I'll have to temper my enthusiasm at first until I have the respect of my team members, and then propose new ideas with plenty of supporting research and thoughtful planning.
Many times, especially after a hard day, I ask myself
1) Am I a good teacher? What exactly is it that constitutes an excellent educator? Do I fit the profile? What would my students, parents, colleagues, and administrators say? Would most of them agree? What are the qualities that they believe are essential for a good teacher to have?
2) Did I meet the majority of my students' needs? I know it is impossible to meet everyone's needs everyday, so I simply ask if I met the majority's needs. Even this can be a daunting task on any given day. What if I failed? Would that make me a failure as a teacher? What could I improve to be more effective next time?
3) As a resource teacher, how can I cooperate better with classroom teachers? I am a new resource teacher in a new district and have found that the avenues of communication are not always as free flowing as I would like. My students would be challenged in any school - even more in this high performing district. However, I feel that I have some experience with my types of students, so I would like classroom teachers to be more open to suggestions that they can use in the classroom to scaffold support.
4) Where are we going with education? Are we really getting better? Have we utilized what we have learned in the past to improve or are we always doomed to start anew? What can we do to foster greater cooperation among teachers so that lessons learned from experience become beneficial to other teachers? Do the benefits of experience only come from our "own skin" experiences?
5) What is the future of education in light of NCLB, budget cuts, and inequities in resources? Is the U.S. system of education on the verge of a major downturn? What can be done to improve the environment around education so that it is more supportive rather than an environment that is always providing more and more barriers to a successful education of our children?
I really do not know a definitive answer or a pathway that might lead to enlightenment on these issues. As a famous Hellenic philosopher once said, "The only thing I know is that I know nothing."
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