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!

Love it or Leave it

Teaching takes endurance and a positive attitude. Teaching is not about excuses. We can get frustrated with various mandates set forth by folks that are not in the profession, and yes, that can be frustrating. That being said, as a teacher we must focus on the students…always. Some of the mandates have been put in place to insure that our students are receiving the best education possible. Now, I am not an advocate for testing students constantly, but I am an advocate for knowing where your students are and having a plan as to how to move them educationally. Standardized testing is a tool for us to make a plan. The testing debate can be had another day, but that is just a brief touch on the topic.
The point of this writing, is to say that regardless of the mandates (every profession has them by the way), teachers must come to work with a positive attitude. An attitude that says “my job is to teach to every student’s ability level”. Debating the mandates and fighting the changes in education do nothing to support student achievement. As I like to say “no one forced you to become a teacher, you selected this career willingly. No one lied about the pay or the work that would be required, and no one said the career would be easy. If someone said otherwise, you need to go back and have a visit with them”.
Knowing that you chose this profession, also gives you the ability to choose to leave it when your heart is not with it anymore. It is important that you recognize when it is time to make a career change not only for yourself, but for your students. Our students deserve to come to school and be met with a teacher that is preparing them for a global world, and pushing them to achieve as much as possible. They need teachers that will fight for them, not lower the expectation for them because it is easier. This does not help them be prepared for the global world.
Now, let me please say that teachers can not do it all alone. They must receive professional development, they must have supportive administrators, they must have the tools available to get the job done (this is not to say they will not have to work on providing those tools), and parents must take responsiblity to take part in their child’s education. Parents are a child’s first teacher, and they must take part in the education process of their child. This does not mean volunteering at the school per se, but it does mean reading to/with your child, checking their folder/agenda, asking them about their day,and communication with their child’s teacher(s). Education is a team effort.
Education requires heart, positive attitudes, and a willingness to change and adapt so that our students are prepared for an always changing world. Teachers must be risk-takers, willing to think outside of the box, and administrators must be willing to support the risk-takers, and be risk-takers themselves. Our future depends on the education our students receive, so take a moment, look in the mirror and decide to return to work in 2015 with renewed spirit and energy to get the job done.

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!

Appearances do matter…

Environment is important, and yet I think it is underestimated when it comes to its importance. What do I mean by environment? I mean the culture of the classroom, yes; however, in this instance I am referring to the overall environment of the classroom appearance.

How does your classroom feel and look when you walk into it? Is it sterile with very little decor or is it welcoming and student friendly? Does it show your personality and that of your class? Is student work displayed like works of art for all to see? These are just a few questions you should ask yourself when creating your classroom environment.

As an administrator, I have been able to observe the impact the classroom environment has on students. I can tell you it has been my experience that the classroom that is inviting, comfortable and decorated with student work does play a role in creating better student engagement. Now, the reason for this, based upon my own observations, is that the teacher that takes time to be concerned with creating an environment that is all of the above is also an educator that takes their time in every facet of their job.

Now, I am sure there are exceptions, as a matter of fact I can guarantee there are; however, in my years as an administrator the look of the classroom does play into the student achievement of the students and how happy they are being in a particular teacher’s class. Let’s face it, the parents are typically happy too when they enter a classroom that looks as if the teacher has taken time to set up the classroom environment. Parents love to see their child’s work displayed too!

I have teachers who have created reading areas in the classrooms, they have lamps, curtains, the decor matches, and student work is displayed inside and out of the classroom. They have not just decorated with store-bought teacher decorations. I have never understood why a teacher needed to buy a bunch of pre-made decorations, when they have a class full of artists just waiting to create work to put on display. Students love to see their work displayed even more than their parents!

The point of this blog is to tell you to take time to put together your classroom. Bring in a lamp or too, maybe even a bean bag or two (fire inspection ready), Put up some curtains, put some thought into the decorating of your classroom environment. Let’s face it, you and your students will be spending a great majority of your time there so shouldn’t it be comfortable and inviting, a place you and they want to spend time? Display that student work, more specifically, exemplary student work, and I am not talking about only work with an “A” attached to it. I mean work that shows progression and growth in your students.

As much as we would love to think they don’t, appearances do matter.

Your Impact…positive or negative?

I have always known that educators have power, and that power comes in the expression of words. I can still remember some of the hurtful statements that were said to me by some of my teachers. Now, I know I was not the easiest student, but I also know I was not the most difficult. I also enjoyed school and was active and involved, and yet still had teachers make some hurtful statements. What if I was a student that did not come from a positive home environment, was not successful in school, was not involved? How would the statements that were said to me have affected a different student? I know that teachers are human, after all, I am one. 🙂 That being said, as a child should I have had to endure a teacher saying something hurtful to me that has stuck with me all of these years?

I knew as a young child that I wanted to be a teacher, and deep down I know that came from wanting to make sure students did not experience some of the experiences I had. Again, am I the perfect educator? Absolutely not! Do I make mistakes?…Absolutely, but I think if we took a poll of the majority of educators we would find we share common stories. Now, with that being said, I also think we are capable of falling into the same pattern as the educators before us…I don’t think the teachers that taught me started out intending to say things that would hurt their students…I think life happened. I also think we are just as at risk of having life happen to us, so we MUST make sure that does not happen. We must remember that we wield power with our words, and that our words do linger years after our students leave our classes…both positive and negative, and sadly, as humans we tend to remember the negative more often. So, that makes it even more important that we watch what and how we say something,

We MUST be aware of the impact we make on those around us, and that is done by being aware of the attitude we choose each and every day. As I prepared for my teachers to return to work, I knew we were facing many changes and challenges and we needed to be reminded as to why we CHOSE to become educators. ALL of us, including me, needed to be reminded. Dr. Joe Martin came to speak to our faculty and staff yesterday, and he was just what we needed. There were tears, it was thought-provoking, and  he helped us remember not only WHY we are educators, but the IMPACT our words, actions and attitudes have on our students. He reminded us that “our students cannot afford for us to have a bad day”.

So, as this new school year gets underway I have a question for you…

Your attitude determines the impact you will make, so will you choose to make a positive or a negative impact?