Chaos In The Classroom

Currently I'm in the last semester of a teacher education program, Residency 2. The purpose of this course is to provide classroom experiences for student teachers. When I began, I was so excited to have this opportunity! However, my experiences so far have been, well, what NOT to do as a teacher. 

I have been met with abounding chaos from this team of teachers and I do not know what is expected of me. I do not have the experience to pull from as seasoned teachers do. I have been expected to teach without the basic needs met in order to teach. I have wrestled with this through this placement due to the majority of content is teacher created, provided most of the time the day before the lesson is to be taught and is often confusing. In another lesson I used the teacher created material to compare and contrast two stories. One question posed was what was the same about a certain event in a story. The teacher who made the questions later said this question should have been what was different, not the same. I managed to make that lesson work.

There are changes taking place in this grade level and I happen to be with the new teacher on the team who was placed there by the principal to raise the bar of instruction and get things straightened out. Honestly, I feel like I am in the middle of a mess and in survival mode. Teachers are disagreeing, arguing over content, claiming to be experts in particular subjects, getting offended and shutting down communication. My mentor teacher is maintaining her professionalism, but this situation has brought even her to tears at times. 

This situation leads me to wonder, where is the principal? Why is this level of confusion and inadequacy being allowed to continue? Who is advocating for the students? I have tried, making mention to my mentor but I am in a "student​" role and am limited in what I will say. As an adult, as a parent, I will say that if I were a teacher on that team my patients would be worn thin, I would be exasperated with the drama, infuriated with the inadequate materials used to teach with and disappointed in the principal's leadership abilities. Unfortunately, I have found myself in a similar disagreeable situation, unable to make changes for the better and hating my helplessness. 

As I reflect on this situation, I remember professors have also said, teaching is not about me, but the students, I must be flexible, I have to roll with things and so on. I am very capable of these things in relations to the students. I am very passionate about students being the main focus in education. I am adamant about educators doing their job as best they can and providing them with whatever they need to make learning happen. I was not given what I needed to make learning happen. I tried my best, to make it work through planning with the resources I could locate, but failed. I failed the students. 

What am I to learn from this experience? I am not sure. I do know this experience has confirmed my belief that teachers need support in order to teach efficiently and effectively because it is the students who reap the rewards, positive and negative. I have learned that I do not want to be in this teaching situation ever again as long as I live. The discouragement, feelings of defeat and lack of excitement I experienced, although I tried my best, has no place in my teaching because of the price my students must pay. I will continue doing the best I can with what I have, taking advantage of my time with these students. But that type of best is settling for an outcome, not reaching for the stars. I wanted to reach for those stars!

Life Lessons From A Salt Shaker

My grandfather was a painter and had a metal lunchbox he carried to work each day. One particular day he was home and ate his lunch outside under the shade of an old tree. I was about four years old and was fascinated with all the items, besides food, that he had in the lunchbox. As he answered my inquiries about the items, he pulled out a saltshaker to use on a boiled egg. I assumed it was salt but as he put it on the egg, pepper came out as well. I couldn't understand why he had both, salt and pepper, in one container. When I asked him about it he told me that putting them both in one container was more efficient and served the same purpose as two containers. And there was no need to separate the two if their purpose was to be used together on one thing. As an adult, this became the perfect analogy for unity among people. There was/is no need to separate or divide humanity into categories because we all serve, while different, the same purpose...to be compassionate and supporting while uplifting one another. While that notion screams of an idealistic world view, I believe there is truth at its foundation. To me, that salt/pepper shaker is and has always been representative of cooperation, collaboration and a commitment to serve others. 

Cultivating New Ground

I am preparing to cultivate a new section of my personal Learning Garden. I am nervous, excited, frustrated and curious at the same time. I am in the process of learning to recognize the value of a process, the process of thinking, evaluating, constructing, risk taking and collaborating. My biggest stumbling block is recognizing how a process of learning can support producing a product, a grade from testing. Hopefully, while I am in Residency 1, I will get a clearer picture and understanding of process verses product, the importance and proper usage of each, and create a schema that will eventually support me in being the best teacher I can be!

Constant Collaboration!

If you have never heard of Creative Commons then you have to watch this video especially if you are an educator, parent or parent-educator (my fancy way to say homeschooler). The title is Wanna Work Together? and was produced by our friends at CreativeCommons.com. This site offers a free copy right license that allows the copyright to be individualized to meet the needs and desires of what you want to do with your creations! I know many times I have not publically shared photos, slideshows and other materials I have created because of the fear someone would steal my idea and claim it to be their own. But wait, there is a flip side to this.

As parents and educators, we move around fellow parents and educators who are always creating, discussing or dreaming of ways to make things more productive, effective or appealing. Now be honest, how many times have you and a group been talking about an issue that led directly to a solution? Creative Commons provides educators with resources and materials in a public domain free to use and that can be modify. Many times I have found the perfect form or template if only I could change one thing to customize it for my needs. And what educator does not like resources? This, my friends, it a new and free version of those teacher resource sites that charge or require a membership. It is also a place to share your creation, someone adds to it, another modifies it and you now have that an enhanced version of your original. This is what educators and parents do all the time. Now it is in the digital realm of our lives.  

A 21st Century Rip Van Winkle?

 This is a cute video about a man who awakes after many years have passed him by. The title of the video is Mr. Winkle Wakes produced by Mathew Needleman and is located at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm1sCsl2MQY.In this video the author has created a modern day version of Rip Van Winkle and how he responds to the technology advancements made during the past 100 years. Initially Mr. Winkle is very excited, inquisitive and filled with wonder. That is until he enters a school.  

Like Mr. Winkle, I have felt the same in similar situations although I did not miss out on 100 years of advancements. I have seen computers being stored in closet of classrooms, software unopened lying on shelves. I have given information and resources about the use of technology to be met with answers such as I do not have time, I do know how, or it will not work at this grade level. I felt the same as Mr. Winkle did! I was discouraged about the technology path I saw some teachers taking. I was confused as to why they took that path and seemed to disregard the other. Most importantly, I was dismayed over the loss of creative and interactive opportunities students were missing. Hopefully, the tide will continue to change and the use and acceptance of technology in schools will be the norm, instead of an exception. 

Understanding a Digital World

 I had never heard of a digital learner or a digital community although I consider myself part of both. As a future teacher, I am unsure how yet another label benefits others in understanding, learning or teaching. In my mind, a teacher meets the students where they are. If that is a technology savvy student or a student with limited exposure to technology, the goal is the same, provide meaningful learning experiences that extend and build upon what they already know. The key word is meaningful. In reading Understanding the Digital Generation: Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Landscape by Ian Jukes, Ted McCain and Lee Crockett I often felt a line being drawn in the sand or a great divide being created between teachers and students. One thing I do not recall being mentioned was the human component of technology.  

I believe the human component is what drives the world of technology. If we did not have a need, would we have the first computers or programs? If the human component did not drive technology, websites would not be as interactive and inviting. I also would not have spent the amount of time I did in creating my website. I would not concern myself with how it looked flowed, etc. I would have been interested in information only. The way we communicate would not be as technologically enhanced. I used a form of technology to send typed messages before the birth of texting. The technology used was the teletype phone (TTY) which used a modem to send and receive text over phone lines in order to communicate with the deaf. This evolved into texting from a cell phone to the QWERTY keyboard on Sidekick cell phones to the present technology and use of texting. The human component was and continues to be the driving force behind this technology.  

It Takes A Village..

I watched the video, Big Ideas for Better Schools, by the Edutopia staff at Edutopia.org. I assumed it was another educational organization promoting a new “thing” in the world of education. While I am not against creating and exploring new ways to teach, I am weary and worn by our current educational climate. To my surprise, this video shared several components that make a good school great! The components were categorized into four categories, students, teachers, parents and community. Although the components evolve and change over time, the four categories, students, teachers, parents and community, remain the same. 

In my career as a professional educational volunteer, I spent over a decade assisting in the implementation of new educational components. I recall the first computers crossing the school’s threshold and the mixed responses. I had no experience with computers but was curious, similar to getting new PE equipment, let’s check it out. Many teachers viewed having computers as an addition to their already busy schedules. One must remember that the main pieces of technology used at that time were photocopiers and laminators. As volunteers, a parent and I began setting up computers in classrooms for teachers. Before I knew it, I was installing and setting up educational software for both teachers and students to use. I began sharing the latest techno trick or ability I had discovered and how it could make life easier for a teacher and exiting for a student. Students began having regular computer times and newsletters now had clipart. As computers became a bigger part of the classroom environment, the community contributed by donating paper, ink, and computer accessories. This was the dawning of the computer age at our school! However, the most important elements that made transitioning into the computer age were the four categories mentioned by the Edutopia staff, students, teachers, parents and community. These elements created the relationship needed to allow our school to move into the computer age. The need for this relationship and support will never change regardless of the new “things” that appear on our educational horizons. This is what makes a good school great.