As I sit in my grad classes sometimes I have to wonder what the teaching field will be like in 15-20 years. As I sit in on PD's (profesional development) and listen intently on what DDM's are and how important PPI's are and how important the UBD is in planning your lessons, I start to doze off and dream about being in the classroom making sure my kids are enjoying their time with me while teaching the content that I love.
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| Classroom Decor 2014-2015 |
You see, classes, trainings, professional seminars, and conferences will never really teach you what being a teacher really is. You won't really understand the art of teaching until you are in a classroom full of attention hungry, over stimulated, and very energetic students. You will never understand what teaching is until you are looking straight into the eyes of a group of very opinionated and impressionable young ones and make a mistake so huge that even the one who only pays attention half the time noticed that you made the mistake! So, as you've probably heard before, I will repeat that teaching is about making a connection first and then teaching the subject.
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| ALL devices collected during one block! |
Teaching is about putting the student first and then the DDM's (District Determined Measures). Teaching is about making sure your students are comfortable before you look at their PPI's (Progress Performance Indexes). Teaching is about being able to hand a student their work from the 2 days he or she missed, sew on a button, and take attendance all while writing your essential questions and putting your agenda up on the board for the day. Teaching is about being able to be honest, stern and loving all at the same time to the student who just told you to your face that he or she is not going to do the work you assigned because what you teach he or she has no use for it. Teaching is being able to overlook the comment that was just made to you because you know that student is going through things that even in your worst nightmares you could never imagine.
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| Junior Prom 2014 |
As a teacher multitasking becomes second nature in the classroom as well as bionic hearing. You learn to do 5 things at once and hear the comment that was made about the girls who just walked by your room by the group of boys sitting by the door. You can hear the pencil points breaking, the "secret" texting and the gaming that is done while your back is turned to the class because you are writing the examples on the whiteboard. You very quickly learn that if the Powerpoint you were going to use for the class won't load on to the computer you will have to revert back to the old method of verbal notes to which you better add some funny jokes and quirky remarks or else you'll never get them to pay attention.
Teaching is being able to be silly, loving, serious, and sometimes even scary all in the same 90 minutes. You have to be
able to laugh at your mistakes and theirs, love those who others won't, keep control of the uncontrollable, and scare those who made the comment about the girl who just walked by by letting them know you know what they said. It's making them feel comfortable and safe in the environment you create for them. It's about been their safe place when no where else is.
So, you see... Teaching is not ALL about data, paperwork and testing. You don't really get your summers off, <--- That's a whole different blog! It's not a 7AM to 2PM job. <---- Basketball games, soccer games, track meets, concerts, and plays ALL take place after school! Don't get me wrong, those things are a HUGE chunk of it, but they are not the biggest part of it. Teaching is about loving your students as if they were your own. Teaching is about making sure the student who enlisted knows that you will keep an eye on his siblings who are students in your building. It's about keeping track of a student you had 5 years ago and helping him make sure he knows what he needs to do to get into a good college. It's about having lunch with a group of alumni on a wednesday afternoon just because. It's about helping another alumni get through her first college Spanish class. It's about answering that 2AM email that came in from a student who just needed to talk.
Now, I go back to the question of where will teaching be in 15 or 20 years... Will we be more data driven then student driven? Will a student be just a number instead of a human being who's spirit can and will be broken by what those numbers say? I'm not sure if I will survive as a teacher in those conditions. I don't do numbers and my DDM is making sure that my students are making progress in themselves first, and then in Spanish II. Is that wrong? Am I wrong..? Hmmm... I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Until then, I will teach on but my way. I will make a difference in the lives I touch regardless of if I meet my technical DDM's. I rather meet my personal DDM which is to make sure every student that passes through my classroom, regardless of if I teach them personally or not, feels like they matter and that someone does care. That's what teaching is!
So, I've schooled you on what I think teaching really is. Tell me, what do YOU think teaching is? I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts...
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| Junior Prom 2014 |
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