Learning Takes Place in the Struggle

The statement above is so true, yet I think as educators it is hard for us to let students struggle. What I mean is that it is easier to pose a problem and provide the answer, instead of posing a problem and allowing the students to WORK to find the answer. When I watch my son play with his Legos, if something becomes slightly difficult, he will come to me or his dad to help him. Typically, the task is truly not that difficult, and he could handle it with a little work. My husband and I have really tried to start letting him work through the struggle. Encourage and provide guidance but allow him to solve the problem.

I think our classrooms are similar. We provide an activity or project, and it isn’t long before the hands go up that our students need help. It is as that moment we determine the direction of the lesson.  Do we provide the answer? Do we give so many clues which have basically provided the answer? Do we encourage them to get back into the struggle?

We MUST encourage them to get back into the struggle. We facilitate the learning, have them talk with one another, we pose questions that probe and guide them to work through the struggle.

It is imperative that our students become problem solvers, goal setters, and are active participants in their learning. I think the time for working backward is here…I think it HAS been here, really. More classrooms need to encompass students being handed a project where they discover the purpose…the lesson. Our students are not the same as they were 30 years, 20 years, even 10 years ago…even 5 years ago. We MUST work to make our students self-reliant, critical thinkers that are able to accept the challenge of problem solving with endurance and enthusiasm. That requires educator that are the same way. We must be problem solvers and critical thinkers who work to make the lesson in our classes exciting, fun, and meaningful.

I have heard educators state that things have gotten overwhelming, too much is being required, education is not what it used to be, I just want to come to work and teach. I understand these statements; however, passion for your career must truly come from within, no one can provide that for you. Teaching has never been easy! There have always been demands placed that reach further than the classroom. We have always had students that have come from difficult home situations, come to school hungry and tired, not engaged, the list goes on and on. As educators it is our responsibility to do our very best to educate our students no matter the challenge. We must push through the struggle, just as we need to begin asking our students to do.

We need students prepared for a challenging future. Our students must be equipped to function in a fast-paced, highly evolving, always changing world. This will require our students to be able have skills far beyond a textbook and a worksheet, or even a test. Our students must know how to work together, problem solve, stand up for oneself, give back to their community, have empathy, initiative, work ethic, and the list goes on and on. If our students are going to need the skills listed above, then the individuals doing the educating must also have the skills listed above.

Our students need us to help them learn the skills to be prepared for the world they live in. Our job as educators is more important that I think we even truly understand. I truly believe that if we do not do our part as educators, our world’s future will truly be impacted. Now, I am not saying parents do not have a role here, and that the decisions they make will not impact the future. As a matter of fact, parents have the biggest impact! That being said, we can only control what we can control, and that is the learning in our classrooms. So, let’s come together and push through the struggle, let’s push our students to push through the struggle. We can do this, after all WE ARE EDUCATORS, and our students deserve it, no, they require it!

Always Have a Plan…

With any career you need to plan…plan your day, plan your week, plan, plan, plan. Teaching is the profession in which planning is crucial. Lesson planning templates are available on sites such as Teachers Pay Teachers. These lesson plans allow you to simply enter your lesson information and then click on a drop down menu and the standard appears. A lot simpler than going through the standards checklist, and handwriting them in a lesson plan book. With the ease of templates today, I wonder why it is some teachers don’t plan?

I find planning critical to laying out the upcoming week, not only for the students, but for me as the professional. It allows a teacher the opportunity to truly process where their students currently are, and the direction they need to be going. Teachers need to evaluate their student data when lesson planning, as well as take in the different levels of their students. I truly believe that if 80% of your students have not mastered a skill it is pointless to move on…it is time to re-teach.

When a teacher takes time to lesson plan they are getting themselves prepared for the week ahead. Our students deserve to have us plan and prepare for them. After all, it is our job to be prepared for our students, not come in to work and just “shoot from the hip” so to speak, or “just wing it”. Take out the accountability demands, and the testing requirements, because while they are a reality in education, they are not why we do what we do. We are teachers to teach our students skills that will prepare them to be contributing citizens in a global world. We cannot possibly do our job to the best of our ability without sitting down and evaluating our students, the standards, and then setting the course of the year one week at a time unless we plan.

Many teachers collaboratively plan…this does save time; however, just plugging what our peer has for lesson plans into our own lesson plans so we can check that off of our “to do” list is not effective planning, nor is it what our students deserve. When teachers, in the same grade-level, have the exact same lesson plans day after day I often wonder how this is even possible? I already know the answer..it isn’t. No class in a school is going to be on the same page on the same day throughout an entire year…no way. Our classes are made up with individual students with individual needs, and each teacher delivers instruction differently, so, collaborative planning for sharing purposes is fine, sharing just so you can check your lesson plans off without giving them much of a thought…that won’t work, nor is it doing our students justice.

If you want to be an effective teacher and truly grow your students academically, you must lesson plan effectively, so set the course for your students and for yourself…make sure to plan! Let’s face it, if you have a plan, know the materials you will need for the upcoming week’s lessons, you can organize yourself accordingly which in the long run will ease your stress. “Winging it” is not known to help lower stress. I always felt more in control and ready for the week when I had my plans ready and my materials in order. As educators, it is always nice to feel ready for the upcoming week, because we all know life is unpredictable enough!

Survival, change and great things…

 

As a teacher, you will face challenges daily…that is a given. Right now, education is going through many changes in general with the change to new standards, increased accountability, new teacher evaluation protocols and procedures.  The reality is change is here, it is how YOU handle those changes that will determine the success you have.

My school just finished our first week of school, and it was truly a great opening of the school year. My teachers; however, are feeling overwhelmed with all of the changes. As a Principal, I do not have all of the answers, but I must be able to listen and provide support. I have handed out tissues to my teachers who want to make sure they are teaching the “correct” way, but worry they are not…and the majority of the time they are doing a great job…by the way, one teacher’s “correct” way of teaching is different from another. As I left work last night, I thought about the conversations that I had with some of my teachers. The changes we face will not be tackled and taken care of in a day, nor will we conquer the mountain of change in a year. The changes in education will take time to implement and completely grasp. So, what do we need to do to survive?

As a leader, I must keep my  teachers motivated, supported and willing to try to take risks. That being said, educators MUST be willing to take responsibility for their own professional learning. Everything an educator needs to know is not going to be handed to them, done for them, or ordered for them. Research, reading, discussing, blogging, tweeting, attending conferences is the name of the game. Educators must build their own professional knowledge base. You must be responsible for your own professional growth.

The teacher’s manual is no longer the key to good instruction, I am not sure that it ever was, but that is my opinion. I know that with the shift in standards, teaching from a textbook alone is not going to be enough. Teaching from the textbook sure is easier though, but easier is not what is best for our students. In this day and age, one click of a button and you can have lessons, projects, rubrics, you name it, and it is available for use in your classroom…so get clicking!

A key resource; however, are the people in your school. Educators are surrounded by a vast wealth of knowledge every day…each other. Now, collaboration is the word of the day these days, but what does it really mean? Collaboration is not sitting around sharing lesson plans. Collaboration is sharing ideas, analyzing and discussing data, developing goals, and so much more.  The challenge…do educators really know how to collaborate? I think we are like our students…at different levels. It takes just one person to make change happen…you may be the person that engages your grade-level or school in a collaborative change.

As I think about all that educators face daily, the majority are spot on. They come to work with the purpose of doing the best they can, and they are here for their students. What educators need to focus on are the successes and less on the challenges and changes, and they also need to remember the quote below: