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This will be a forum for the Brookland-Cayce High School SCRI Study Group members who are currently enrolled in Assessment and Literacy to thoughtfully consider our leaning. Study group members will be required to post at least 14 times over the duration of our class.
9 comments:
Jenny, thanks for being the first brave soul to post your comments. I am glad the chapters we read were relevant to you.
I don’t know if I should say this reading was perfect for me or that I should wait to feel in a more “positive” mood. This has been a tough week for me at school. I feel overburdened by the workload, and, no, I’m not taking up and grading everything. The bulk of my first block doesn’t turn in homework. My second block won’t be quiet, still, or serious. My third block complains we’re “overanalyzing” everything. Parents want to hear from me. Administration tells us EOC exams scores will be on school report cards. The AP program is being audited. Etc., etc. One thought that crossed my mind this week, and Janet Allen here confirmed, is that I’m trying to serve many different “masters”: “Often not knowing where we’re going and not quiet sure what we’re looking for, we spend our days in a frenzy of activity […]” (3). Also, by the end of this week, the term “learned helplessness” fit me well: I felt that, in some ways, I have been set up for failure by factors beyond my control, such as the number of students in a class, the diverse needs within a class, the attitude of students, testing mandates, legislative action, etc.
From what I’ve read, and really, Allen here just confirmed this, I feel that I need to step back and re-assess my classroom situations and my instruction. Now five weeks into the semester, I know better and can better anticipate my students’ needs. My burning questions are these: how do I balance having an overall workable long-range plan for the semester and also make daily instructional decisions and also, how do I work with “controlled messiness,” as Allen puts it (8)? Right now, planning on a daily basis is taking a huge part of my time, and I feel that my lessons and plans are so open and spread-wide that I’m losing track of what we’ve done and I don’t know how to evaluate students on what we’ve done.
Interesting to think about the change that is necessary in all we do. There is a quote that goes something like this…please give me the strength to change the things in my control, and the wisdom to know the difference. It is important for us to focus on the things that we can change and not waste time on things we cannot. Furthermore, in marketing, we have a theory. You want to make someone think it is there idea in order to get the other person “on board”. This goes hand in hand with the article, when the department chair to the teachers to focus on their classroom and their students and when the other teachers witnessed their success, they would want to be a part of it. If it had been forced, the teachers would not have been receptive and would have likely implemented with little enthusiasm, etc. After reading the characteristics of teaching methods, I realize that I implement some, but could do a lot more and this is for me to change.
Looking for the wizard was an enlightening and informative passage. We hide behind the curtain of educational ignorance. We need to venture out and not be afraid to go off the yellow brick road. We are so driven by standards and objectives. We allow the curriculum to drive us rather than us driving the curriculum. We would like to wear the ruby slippers, click our heels together 3 times and shout "There's No PLACE like HOME". Returning with things back as they should be.
Home is the heart of Learning and yet are student do not always have that safe haven. We as Professional Educator have a wonderful opportunity to engage these young people into life-long learners. If we embrace the student with a passion for reading, writing, and thinking; it will be a
successful adventure. The reward will be a productive and socially conscience human being with a purpose. Mail Message
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Looking for the wizard was an enlightening and informative passage. We hide behind the curtain of educational ignorance. We need to venture out and not be afraid to go off the yellow brick road. We are so driven by standards and objectives. We allow the curriculum to drive us rather than us driving the curriculum. We would like to wear the ruby slippers, click our heels together 3 times and shout "There's No PLACE like HOME". Returning with things back as they should be.Home is the heart of Learning and yet are student do not always have that safe haven. We as Professional Educator have a wonderful opportunity to engage these young people into life-long learners. If we embrace the student with a passion for reading, writing, and thinking; it will be asuccessful adventure. The reward will be a productive and socially conscience human being with a purpose. Mail Message
While reading “Looking for the Wizard,” I remembered my first year of teaching and really related to the text. I had no mentors and had no advice. I was given one class that first year that was one hundred percent learning disabled. Frustrated, panicked, fearful, and alone are all adjectives that describe that first year. Largely without support and almost totally without a clue, I floundered through the year. One thing on my side was a ferocious desire to make a difference in those children’s lives. Long story short, the year was one of surviving and learning.
The next year, I did get an unofficial mentor who shared with me his syllabus, ideas, methodology, and time. Charles Stanton probably saved my teaching career. As I observed others sobbing and running for the teachers’ lounge, I determined not to throw in the towel. I developed a sense of humor about the “acronym du jour” and attempted to find a way to teach, despite the –as Allen’s article so aptly calls it--- “hierarchy’s directives.” I learned to deal with nay-sayers and decided to take who and what was before me and “make lemonade.” Although I absolutely encountered those who refused any kind of change, I soon learned to zero in on those in the department who would be willing to talk and exchange ideas, sharing “good reads,” best practices, support, and advice.
I completely agree that mentors, both assigned and adopted, can tremendously affect new teachers. I have participated for several years in the mentoring program in an attempt to prevent those good ones from getting away. Teaching does involve “controlled messiness.” We do have to get away from our comfort zone for growth and for giving the students a sense of ownership in their education. We have to be readers and writers.
We have to be both teachers, with historical and current knowledge of best practices and students, open and willing to learn new ways of planning and implementing education.
Routman's "Teacher as Professional" stirred so many emotions as I read. Throughout my career,I have viewed teaching as a noble calling.However,as our society has changed, so has its perception of our profession. Salary does seem to dictate status for some who do not realize the tremendous impact teaching has on the world. I agree with Routman that we must be vigilant in rightfully claiming our professional status. To that end,I have participated in many programs, have attended conferences,and have been politically active throughout my career. I do feel a need to increase my support of and participation in teacher research.We definitely need to be more proactive in touting the good and positive things happening in our S.C. schools.
Janet Allen's "Living the Professional Life" had several lines that I appreciated. I especially loved the following:
"There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree. You can climb the branches or sit on an acorn and wait." I also loved " the heart of education is in our students' voices." I agree that we cannot wait for change to come to us, but all change and all practices we accept must be consciously and personally examined for their effectiveness in our classrooms. Bandwagon mentality and practices rarely work for me. If we truly intend to be leaders in our own sphere of influence, we must never abdicate our own responsibility to "lead forth," to educate.
After reading this article, as well as some of your posts, I can't help but think of an early district interview(no district in particular). One of the questions asked what I should do in order to reach those "difficult" students. I went through a litany of things I had experienced during my interning. However, I couldn't seem to come around to the answer he was looking for. Finally, the interviewer answered the questions with a resounding "assess and modify." Since then, that phrase has been stuck in my head.
I feel that is what I am constnatly trying to do...attempting to find new ways to turn the light on. And it can be very frustrating,especially when you have a classroom of multiple intelligences.
Teaching becomes a juggling act...maybe not becomes, maybe that's what it is--a juggling act we have to endure in order to see what our students know and still need to reach for.
Okay, so I know I am a little late on this blog. This was that very first class when I had not yet joined. And now that I have made a somewhat acceptable excuse for not being on time, although not near excuse enough for being 7 months late, I will continue on with the reading.
Let me say that I am actually kind of glad that it took me so long to respond to this blog. I have read Yellow Brick Roads before, again as a student. Like most of the literature at the time, I was neither touched nor moved by more strategies and theories that I could not yet put to use. If I think about it, I feel quite certain that reading this at the beginning of this year was not very poignant either. However, reading the first chapter of this book here at the end of my first year of teaching, I found it to be so much more...me. I would not have been able to understand Allen's comments about the trying days or the I-can-resign-in-x-days calendar without having experienced some very similar emotions. This first year has been a severe roller coaster, and may I say that I am not a big fan of roller coasters to begin with. But I was lucky enough, looking back, to have three incredible companions with me on my journey. Like Allen, there were days when I just did not think I could hold on much longer, but then out of the blue these were the days when a kind word, an encouraging note, a fabulous packet of hold that thought post-its would come along and pick me up, even if for only an extra hour or two to make it through the day. Now I can see that my journey has not been for nothing. I certainly felt as though I was not living up to my potential as a teacher, in fact I had become convinced that I was possibly the worst teacher ever. But in the light of the summer glow I can see that just maybe my mentor was right. The learned helplessness was something I was getting hooked on too fast. I can do this. There will certainly be challenges, but they cannot break me down and make me stop teaching unless I let them. So, thanks Janet Allen and my companion travelers for helping me along the way and coming along at just the right times.
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