Discussion/Reflection Questions:
- Why did you enter the teaching profession? What were some of your inspirations and goals? How have your goals changed over time?
- Think of a time that you made a positive impact on a student. Write that story down, including every detail you can remember. Think of a teacher who made a difference for you. Write that story down, including every detail you can remember. What are some ways you make a difference in the lives of others outside of school?
- Who are some colleagues who you think make a great impact on others at your school? What do they do that's so important?
- How much control do you have over your teaching?
- Respond to the following statement: Teachers don't have as much creativity and personal voice in the classroom as they used to.
- Write a philosophical statement. What do you believe about teaching and learning? Share this statement with a colleague and discuss.
- How do you think parents view teachers at your school? How do parents' attitudes and beliefs about teachers impact your work?
- Consider the three teacher profiles at the end of the chapter. Do you identify with any of these teachers? How so?
Suggested Activities:
- Create a list of the positive effects you have on students, colleagues, and your school community.
- Start to record and collect some of the "little" things that let you know you're making a difference: comments a student makes, notes from parents, etc.
- Choose a meaningful collaborative project to join. This could be a committee at your school or a project with a few colleagues or team members.
- Do a search of online professional communities for teachers. (Try doing a Google search of "teacher blog" or check out some professional organizations you already know.)
- Take a unit that you currently teach and think of a way to make it better. How could it be more relevant for students? How could it be more interactive and engaging? How could it connect with your strengths and the strengths and interests of your students? Once you've created the unit, try it out!
- Create a vision statement about your ideal classroom environment. What would it look like, sound like, and feel like? What would students be doing, and what would you be doing?
- Create a portfolio. Whether you're likely to be applying for a new job sometime soon or not, a portfolio can be a great way to focus on what you believe and build a sense of significance. Make sure to update your resume and collect artifacts that show how you make a difference in your school.
My personal favorite part of this chapter was the section "Recognizing the Importance of Creativity and Teacher Voice". When I was teaching 5th grade in Craig County I had an experience very much like the author's, just in Reading. Our school purchased an internet based reading program (much like i-ready) to be used "x" number of times per week. It was a great program-online lessons designed just for the kids, at your fingertip remediation lessons with teacher script, and so on. My first thought was "woah...lesson plans much easier". However by October the fun had worn off. My 5th graders HATED it and complained all the time about how "baby" it was (it really was horribly animated). By this time I was already in my 4th year teaching 5th grade and I began missing my little reading groups. I LOVE reading groups, by far my most favorite time of day to teach. Small number, great discussions, and a chance to really know the kids. I also loved teaching through novels and began to feel like I was "teaching in a box"
ReplyDeleteOne of my most favorite things about CES is the fact that teachers are the driving force behind ideas and instruction. I love that we get to make our plans and activities that best benefit our students. I love that we can engage kids in a way that we see fit without having to be put into the "box" so to speak. Don't get me wrong, i-Ready is great (heehee) but I crave the time in my small group reading stations because that is where I feel like I get to make the biggest connection to each of my students!
And I do love all of my pictures and art work that my students make me. I keep one piece from each child every year (many of them draw lots of pictures) and I have a box in my house that I collect them in. I love pulling it out and looking through the memories. It's hard for me to believe that some of those sweet pictures will be graduating high school in June and I'm getting invitations to graduations. It's a reminder for me that they do remember me and I stuck in their mind enough to send me a picture and invitation. It brings tears to my eyes.
Teaching literally fell into my lap one day in a meeting with the Appalachian Regional Commission at RU. The stars aligned and God placed the Dean of Education right across from me to answer questions that I had been fighting my entire life not to get answered. I didn't want to follow the family path down the road of education. I wanted my own path that in my head led me to believe I wanted to be a doctor... I really just wanted to stick on band-aids and tell people they would be ok. I thought that path would lead me to a great sense of purpose in life and feeling significant in this world. Little did I know that the true identity I was to assume would give me a much greater sense of purpose beyond myself. I still don't quite understand how I ended up here, but I know that I finally made every move with intent and am thankful that I am exactly where I need, want, and know I should be.
ReplyDeleteThis has been my favorite chapter so far. I know I do many of the positive things mentioned, but also know I fall into the traps discussed as well. I keep a box in my closet to keep mementos and things, but have yet to pull it out and look back through it. When I need it most, I think I forget it is there. I am starting (under the suggestion of my partner in crime KT) a bullet journal to help me become more mindful in and out of school. I think I am going to need two, so that I can have one for my other identities (hammoker, wild hippy child, music enthusiast, photographer, canner, crazy chicken/cat lady, baker, child of God, master crafter, avid reader, etc) and keep a separate one for teaching. I can already see myself becoming more mindful through preparation and setting it up, so I can't wait to actually delve into journaling. On the otherside of things, I continue to take on too much in school and out. It has led me to have some pretty down days as other events crash in on top of being exhausted and running out of fuel. I love helping, but this book is reminding me that I am not Wonder Woman and I need to slow down. I took Friday off and did nothing school related (minus a couple of emails) ALL day. I don't remember the last time I felt that relaxed and energized. It has been exactly what I needed to shake off the funk I have been in lately and to finish this year strong with my kiddos!
Another point I enjoyed from this chapter is the fact that I know I work in a school that allows my voice to be heard. And more than that, expects my voice and creativity EVERY day. I plan to write out some of my ideal visions for an even better third year, my philosophical statement, and put together a portfolio to keep me level headed and as sources of inspiration when I lose sight of my true purpose as a teacher.
Mary D.
First, I fell into teaching because I had a degree in Science, couldn't find a job, worked for the ACS and then realized the only reason I wanted to go to work in the morning was so that I could create a new presentation or revamp an old one and then go out in tiny SWVA and teach people about the awesomeness of ACS. I also loved teachers who would grab a hold of me and push me, sometimes with frustration on my part but really push me to do better and I wanted to be that person for someone. To find the good or the knowledge and get it to come out of them by pushing them to their limits.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter really centered with the week I had last week. I felt like I had lost my complete and total significance with students. To be honest, sometimes I feel as if students, parents, and sometimes maybe even a few faculty already come to me thinking I am (strike that) my class is insignificant because we do not have an SOL test in science; however, that is one of the BEAUTIES of my class and our school. I have so much room for creativity in what I do because even though I am on pacing guide, it is not as strict (thank goodness because 6th grade went out the window a long time ago) as someone who has an SOL test and needs to get in all of this information.
When I was thinking about my mission statement as the book encouraged I went back and re-read my teaching philosophy that I had to create when I was at E&H. At first glance it is very SOL centered heavy but as I delved deeper into my writing I found these few gems that I needed to read (the first is a student role and the second is the teacher role): 1)They will also be encouraged to speak up when they have questions, to further explore subjects on their own if time is not permitted in class, and to work hard. Students will be encouraged to develop their own experiments including questions and methods. 2) ...develop activities that allow for discussion and further exploration so that students will continually ask questions and have the desire to seek out the answers to these questions.
Last thing, this past week I had a hard week and I posted an article that I needed to read on Facebook. One of my previous students from long term subbing commented to remind me about how much of an impact I had on her life. She even invited me to her high school graduation and that makes me feel like I have some significance.
Since high school, I suspected I would become a teacher. I thought it was inevitable because even at a young age, I noticed my approach to life and to others was in a teaching manner. When I chose English for my degree, honestly, I did not think about what other than teaching I might be able to do with an English degree. By the time I had earned my BA, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’s teacher education program was under serious review and losing its national accreditation, although it kept state accreditation. I was concerned that the diminished accreditation meant the program was unsound and might limit me to working only in Alaska. I was afraid to commit because I did not know where I wanted to live. In addition, the program was a 5th year beyond the earning a BA. I was “burnt out” on school and used that loss of accreditation as my excuse to take a pause in my education.
ReplyDeleteLater, I (and my spouse) found ourselves moving out of Alaska, trying to live nearer to our families, and looking to land “real jobs.” I had an English degree, he a world languages degree. Teaching, again, seemed to make sense. This was when we learned about Provisional Teaching Licenses, a sort of back door into the teaching profession, not to mention “trial by fire” since neither of us had pursued a teacher training and mentoring program. We found an “experimental school” in its fledgling stages, willing to take risks to hire dedicated people. Mid-year, he was able to step into a teaching position, and I followed the next fall, both at a full-time Governor’s School in Petersburg, VA, decisions that have continued to shape our lives.
In terms of some of my inspirations and goals when I entered the profession, it is probably obvious by now that I had not clearly constructed those. My hope was to find job stability and professional fulfillment by finally pursuing a path in teaching, as I had anticipated before entering college. My main inspirations were former teachers who were key to my growing-up years, as by age 13, after my parents separated, I became quite independent, living with my father who trusted me to self-manage. What I know now and, to some degree, knew in high school was that the impact the best teachers had on me was less about the content and more about how they related to life and to individuals. While I succeeded in academics, the greatest rewards I walked away with were relationships with adults who were educated, dynamic, and highly engaged with young people. Teachers who imparted life skills, life lessons, and love for their students, were examples of what a person could be to others, especially to young people. The essences of these teachers, I brought with me into the teaching realm.
My goals have changed in that they have become more deliberate. Early on I had a sense that the teaching of literature—well, of any content—was a vehicle for teaching young people about humanity, the world, life skills, relationships, etc. Using literature this way is only part of my job now, and while my goals center still on shaping the whole person, I am more deliberate about making students aware of their level of consciousness, intention, and responsibility in that, too. My goals center around helping students live in the realm of possibility, to shape their own educational experiences and to be aware of the paths open to them while in school and beyond. Many of the students with whom I work have a sharp, sometimes debilitating, sense of responsibility about what is happening in the world, carrying weights on their shoulders, far heavier than their share. I wish to help them harness that sense of awareness, urgency, and responsibility and to funnel it into meaningful projects and life-time habits and pursuits, to externalize the internal so that rather than feeling consumed, they are empowered.