As a teacher tough decisions are not a dime a dozen. We make them everyday. Will we ask the child that we know got entirely no sleep to wake up even though we know that’s not right. Will we reprimand the child who is lashing out because he or she is annoyed by the life that they live outside of schools, and adjectives and main ideas are not making it any better. Do we go against what our schools are telling us to do when we know in our hearts what is truly best for the children that have seemingly become our own. What will we do to ensure that the way we practice teaching directly aligns with who we are, and what we believe.
In my first year of teaching I was placed in an ideal position, I had the accelerated kids! They were amazing to teacher, and they pretty much loved everything they did…except the stuff that didn’t challenge them. Unfortunately this was the whole planned and scripted curriculum. In my evaluations by my first administration team, they all agreed that vocabulary from those texts was not challenging enough, the lexile levels were not high enough, and the texts chosen offered these kids no substance and no college readiness. I had to make a decision to give these children what they needed, and the consequences were more rewarding than negative. Yes, I had to deal with my crazy curriculum person after Dr. Nelson left BMS, but to see my students quoting texts in their everyday conversations, and relating the events in a story to something in their own lives was exactly what I wanted. When my students could write a five paragraph essay and the other students couldn’t even do a simple response, that was the reward. When my students could quote Martin Luther King Junior’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the whole thing, not just an excerpt that proved to me that learning and a love of learning could be instilled in any child if they are challenged. Specifically my children. Langston Hughes once said, “An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.” Teaching is an art, it’s not a quantitative or qualitative scientific experiment, regardless of how they position it within politics. It’s a craft, and one must always choose what is best and not be afraid. With that being said, would I do the same thing again? Of course! At the end of the day those children still remember my class, my craft, my art. They left me college ready and not just state test ready. While the consequences were great, and while they were stressful, and threatening, I wouldn’t trade that experience for the world. I would not change the fact that I gained a backbone and a spirit, and learned to think for myself. I truly feel that I was placed in that situation to teach me a lesson. The lesson wasn’t “Follow the rules, or else!” The lesson was “Do what you feel…and have pride in what your practice.” As long as you believe in your decisions, there is no fear.
In my first year of teaching I was placed in an ideal position, I had the accelerated kids! They were amazing to teacher, and they pretty much loved everything they did…except the stuff that didn’t challenge them. Unfortunately this was the whole planned and scripted curriculum. In my evaluations by my first administration team, they all agreed that vocabulary from those texts was not challenging enough, the lexile levels were not high enough, and the texts chosen offered these kids no substance and no college readiness. I had to make a decision to give these children what they needed, and the consequences were more rewarding than negative. Yes, I had to deal with my crazy curriculum person after Dr. Nelson left BMS, but to see my students quoting texts in their everyday conversations, and relating the events in a story to something in their own lives was exactly what I wanted. When my students could write a five paragraph essay and the other students couldn’t even do a simple response, that was the reward. When my students could quote Martin Luther King Junior’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the whole thing, not just an excerpt that proved to me that learning and a love of learning could be instilled in any child if they are challenged. Specifically my children. Langston Hughes once said, “An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.” Teaching is an art, it’s not a quantitative or qualitative scientific experiment, regardless of how they position it within politics. It’s a craft, and one must always choose what is best and not be afraid. With that being said, would I do the same thing again? Of course! At the end of the day those children still remember my class, my craft, my art. They left me college ready and not just state test ready. While the consequences were great, and while they were stressful, and threatening, I wouldn’t trade that experience for the world. I would not change the fact that I gained a backbone and a spirit, and learned to think for myself. I truly feel that I was placed in that situation to teach me a lesson. The lesson wasn’t “Follow the rules, or else!” The lesson was “Do what you feel…and have pride in what your practice.” As long as you believe in your decisions, there is no fear.
Field trips, something I give more detail to in the Pedagogical section of my portfolio, are definitely an imperative part of my practice of teaching. Creating learning experiences, I am able to expand the way my students learn by putting them face to face with real situations and people.
|
Within my classroom, music is a great way to beat the classwork blues. Often we listen to Disney soundtracks, and if we are working independently we will listen to the classical music versions. Classical music has been scientifically proven to help brain cells develop and promote memorization.
|