Thoughts As A Teacher

How can we create or build on conditions currently in Public Education to support innovation?  As a World Geography Teacher, my students have to learn the difference between weather and climate.  Weather is what is going on right now.  Climate is what has historically gone on during a continuous span of time.   For a classroom to change its climate, there has to be a history of changes over a continuous span of time.  It's not going to happen overnight. As a Public Education Teacher, it's challenging to turn a classroom climate from "one of conformity to one of innovation."    Also, as a Public School Teacher; I have to do this within "the system" I work in. Many things are geared towards standardization in Public Education; State Tests, District Tests, even Campus  Tests and all the instruction that is geared towards the majority of the students passing them; especially the state standardized tests....

Student Choice = Empowered Learning  The hardest thing for an Educator (any Educator; Classroom Teacher, Administrator, Para-Professional and so on) to do is give up control so Students can be empowered.  For many, the Pedagogy is too radical.  For decades (if not centuries), students were expected to sit silently taking notes in graveyard style rows while the Teacher lectured on and on.  They were to take this information and through "drill and kill" memorization; regurgitate it on some type of standardized test (Campus, District, and State level...even though this type of "learning" was on the bottom rung of Blooms Taxonomy). The question is; what do all these "old school" pedagogy have in common?  They all focus on where students are weak and almost ignore where they are strong.  Basically, it goes something like this; students take some type of standardized test.  Standardized tests show where students are weak.  Stud...

Do SOMETHING Different!!! Henry Ford had a saying; "If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done, You Always Get What You’ve Always Gotten." Ford was no stranger to being innovative or trying something new.  Many times he failed, but ultimately he succeeded with the Model T , that used the mass production method and made it possible for the average person to own an automobile.  If he had not been willing to take risks and be innovated, then perhaps we might still be driving "horse and buggy" and the automobile would still be the "rich man's toy." Education needs men and women who are not afraid to take risks and be innovated.  Too many times there is a fear of being innovative and doing something "different" because we don't want to stick out  (because let's face it; conformity is a steeped tradition in Education).   We want to stick with something every Teacher does because "that's the way it's always been ...

I have not blogged in almost a month because I've been busy with "end of year stuff," but I felt (to keep the wheels rolling) to post a blog on a couple things I have learned in the classroom during this Fall Semester. Google Classroom and Technology Since we do not have "one to one" technology, and have to rely on whatever devices students bring into the classroom, but do have access to laptops I can check out from the library once a week, I have learned not to "put the cart before the horse," when it comes to technology.  Let me explain.  I was so excited to get my students into Google Classroom and "blended learning" that I assumed most students would smoothly start using Google Classroom with their smart phones.   I learned my lesson after a bad walk through (received comments like "most students were not on task").  Students just got confused and started doing what a 14 year old typically does with a smart ph...

"...give a shout out to 3 other blog posts that you read from other participants..."    The first shout out is for  Theresa Ducassoux who is a music educator in Northern Virginia.   Her post " #IMMOOC Wrap-Up" is linked here: https://offthebeatenpathinmusic.com/2017/11/05/immooc-wrap-up/ I was impressed with this post, because she sees what I see; empowerment in the classroom unlocks true learning.  The second shout out if for  Kristen Kilgore Nan who is a 3rd grade teacher.  Her post " #IMMOOC Week 6: The Impact of Others" is linked here: https://kristennan.com/2017/11/05/immooc-week-6-the-impact-of-others/ I was impressed with this post by how stunning the blog was!  Mine looks so drab by comparison (but I'm working on it with my growth mindset).  I love the energy of this post! Lastly, a shout out to  Kieron Eaglestone, who works at an   international school in Jakarta.  His ...

"You can't get there from here." I heard a story where a woman from the country got lost in the city.  She stopped and asked  a man for directions.  The man keep starting and stopping his instructions, confusing himself in the process.  Finally, after much frustration he blurted out; "you can't get there from here!" Sometimes we go down the wrong path with a lesson.  Maybe it's a PBL or Genius Hour lesson we have started with our class and don't know where we are or where we need to proceed to.  You really have two choices in a situation like that.  Either we can (easiest) 1) Give up and say "well at least we tried, maybe next year." Or 2) We can t ake a few steps back and try again from another angle until we get our bearings.  The later is the harder approach of course...but wouldn't we be modeling for our students the old saying; "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again (and it's OK to make mistakes)?...