Reflective Teaching: Day 4, What I Love about Teaching

Day 4--Respond: What do you love the most about teaching?

"How do I love thee, let me count the ways" .... I don't love just one thing "the most" about teaching.  I don't know if I can pick just one thing; instead I'll pick my top three.

        I love the light in the eyes of the students as they suddenly understand something they couldn't even grasp before; it's that "Aha!" moment which sparkles out when something we're covering in class suddenly "clicks."

        I cherish hearing that "least-likely" student say that mind-blowing "thing" in response to a question I ask...and suddenly the other students perk up and look differently at the one who bravely spoke his/her epiphany aloud. 

        I relish the moments when we're discussing literature and get so wrapped up in the conversation that even those students who usually have their eyes glued to the clock are surprised when the bell rings.

If I can remember these things I love on the days when I wonder if Christmas Break (or Summer, depending on the time of year) is coming soon enough, I will have the inspiration to continue further on and further up.

Reflective Teaching: Day 3, Teacher Observations

Day 3--Discuss one “observation” area that you would like to improve on for your teacher evaluation.

An "observation" area I would like to improve on for my teacher evaluation... 

The area I would like to improve upon for my teacher evaluation would be my use of data to guide my instruction.  I gather a lot of data, look at a lot of data, and yet often don't know what to do with that data.  I think part of my problem with data-driven instruction is that I may not be collecting the right types of data to help me know what to do next.  And that next is also where I feel I need some improvement.  So often I get the data, but, as I'm not a statistician, I don't always see the connection between my carefully crafted spreadsheet and the lesson planning.  I want to figure out how to use the data that is overabundant in the educational world and use it to my students' favor.  I would like to improve the instruction I give them based on the data gotten from them. 

Reflective Teaching: Day 2, New Technology in the Classroom

Reflective Teaching Challenge.  I was supposed to start on the challenge yesterday, but since I just got the challenge in my email today (well, I just read about it today) I am doing two blog posts to make up for starting a day late.

Day 2: Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why. You might also write about what you’re hoping to see out of this edtech integration.

One piece of technology that I would like to try this year is Geddit.  I just heard about this from my principal.  It is a way to get feedback from my students about whether they "get it" (the "it" being whatever content we're going over in class).  It also would allow for quick understanding checks over a critical thinking kind of   Another plus is that I could use the results for grouping or comprehension checks or a gauge of learning either individually or overall.

I like it for several reasons.

First, I already do a verbal version of this kind of feedback with the good-old "Get it?/Got it./Good."  While the notion of the kids saying "Got it" to my "Get it" is good, I am sure that some of my students are just saying "Got it" out of habit, not because they actually did "get it."

Second, I need a better way to judge whether or not a student did "get it."  This tech would allow me to see at a glance whether or not the student understood the concept and/or felt confident in the material.

Third, I like the idea of letting the students become self-assessors to their understanding.  When the student does the metacognition required to decide how much s/he really does "get it," s/he is using critical thinking skills.

So... I think I'm going to look more into this edtech and see about integrating it into my lessons.

Reflective Teaching: Blogging Challenge: Day 1, Goals

Reflective Teaching

Day 1: Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or abstract as you’d like to be!
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In general, I hate goals. I know I shouldn't... I'm a teacher. We're supposed to LOVE goals. Daily goals, weekly goals, semester goals, SMART goals... My biggest problem with goals is that I tend to think of them like New Year's Resolutions...and I'm not good at keeping those, either.

I start off really well with my plan, but somewhere along the way I lose my focus, whether it's because my goal/resolution is too ambitious--and thus I get discouraged because I can't reach it--or because my goal/resolution is too vague--and thus I get bogged down in all the details of even trying to figure out my goal.

But the goal of this challenge is to make me into a more reflective teacher... so I need to abandon my dislike of goals and make a plan for the year.

Goal 1: Set some goals. Realistic goals. Goals I could potentially complete.

Goal 2: Write the goals down somewhere I will see them daily.

Goal 3: Keep the end in mind: too often I get bogged down in the minutia of the goal in a vain attempt to make it look as though I love details.

Goal 4: Be willing to try again. I've had bad experiences with goal-setting, so I tend not to set goals in order to make it more about my choice than my abilities.


Oh my goodness. I just realized that I'm like my students who choose not to do the assignment rather than "prove" to themselves that they can't do it. They'd rather be labeled as lazy than stupid.


So... Goal 5: Stop being the lazy student. Be willing to be thought of as stupid if I don't succeed at my goal. And then... do Goal 4. Again.