PLN Education Blog
My journey of learning digital literacy, establishing a personal learning network, and becoming a qualified 21st century teacher.
Reading this blog post "A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days- a sobering lesson learned" (Anonymous, 2014) made me really consider the teacher that I am and the teacher that I want to be. One of my first thoughts after my very first experience in a classroom with block scheduling was "Wow! They sit for so long!". Of course I am not that far removed with the experience myself. It is easy to recollect that antsy feeling that would hit after sitting through far too many lectures in a day, and about the subject I love and want to spend my life teaching no less. So as I read through this account it brought to light how important it will be to look at my class and my lessons through a different lens, the lens of the student. One of the points that jumped out as a read was the idea that while there might be content that needs to be covered, what good does it do if you are relaying it to an audience that is checked-out and done for the day. Students are going through the motions, doing what they have been trained to do, and might not actually be learning. And can we blame them? I have been to many a meeting where the adults are all turned having side conversations as the speaker is presenting, but yet we expect students to sit is a chair for hours on end and be attentive and engaged at every moment. But do not dare speak. And especially do not move around. Surely I am not blind to the plight of the student, in fact I fully accept the fact that my high school education was what dreams are made of. And I do not deny that if I had been forced to sit and passively engage in my education I would not have succeeded or excelled. But this article served as a reminder to keep those thoughts at the forefront of my teaching style and lesson planning, particularly when the pressure of standards and content and testing are glaring me in the face. My students deserve my respect, patience, understanding, and empathy. Those are tools that will serve me just as well as my content knowledge. The deserve to be active participants in their learning, and it is my job to be their guide. Anonymous author. (2014). A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days. Accessed from: https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/a-veteran-teacher-turned-coach-shadows-2-students-for-2-days-a-sobering-lesson-learned/
2 Comments
Brandon Purvis
12/1/2016 10:07:25 am
Very nice post.
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Ben Tyler
12/3/2016 04:51:03 pm
Margaret,
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AuthorMy name is Margaret Sullivan, and I am a teacher candidate at California State University San Marcos, on my way to becoming a 21st century science teacher Archives
December 2016
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