Teaching for all? Teaching for any? Teaching for some?
This Map describes exactly how to get from one point to another. Just travel down this road for this many miles, then travel that road for that many miles and finally the other road for the other amount of miles! Only if teaching was as easy! Only if all we had to do was mix in the right ingredients, still, add salt to taste, then wait while it reached 150 degrees!
All students can learn...
Some students will learn...
Most students can learn...**
Back in the Day...
The biggest issue of the 70s was the impending ice age, the
results of our conspicuous consumption of fossil fuels. Now green house emissions from our conspicuous
consumption of fossil fuels affects global warming. Interesting!
Now on facebook...
In recent history, a story circulated through teaching
groups about a businessman who tried to impose his efficient methods and
techniques upon the educational world.
He suggested we impose standards, streamline our methods and operations,
begin an assembly line approach to education, adhere to zero tolerances and
thereby guarantee outcomes! This sounded
great, till a veteran teacher replied with a simple query. She asked what would happen with substandard
raw material that was delivered to his business and of course he replied
"We would reject it!" Here is
where we diverge. Students are not raw material. They are not static of fixed. Students are people, our clients, paying our
salaries to acquire an education and we have a moral imperative if not a contractual
obligation to teach EACH PERSON. We
don't return, reject, or turn away any student.
We are teachers! Our roles are to
teach, not reject, label as failures or limit their opportunities but to open
avenues for grow, improve and stretch beyond expected limits. In short, we take them all, grow them as
farther than they think they can go, then send them on. This is education.
Accurate Metaphors?
A current and recent metaphor tries to overlay a farming
metaphor on the educational industry.
With the development of GMO seeds, virtually guaranteed to grow
regardless of many conditions, there must be an application. Droughts and pestilence are ENGINEERED out of
the equation yet a farmer does not cause the growth! A farmer is a passive, yet necessary agent
for success but once his seed is in the ground, his interventions shift. He
buys crop insurance (maybe), waits for rain, fertilizes, treats for weeds and
hopes for the best. Teachers engage
daily with their "crop." Every plant brings it's own set of concerns
and strengths. The master teacher
understands this variety and uses the students own assets and talents to
actively foster growth and development.
Farmers, Businesses or Classrooms?
Here, it seems both these metaphors contain interesting
features but still fall short in describing a true learning environment! Teaching is not farming, nor is it a
business! Teaching is taking another person from one level to another, either
through force and coercion against their will or with cooperation and
enthusiasm in the quest for knowledge.
To describe a master teacher will take more than a simple parable or
story. There is so much in a teacher's
daily planning; determining what to teach students, planning lessons, gathering
materials, presenting the lesson, assessing for understanding, collaborating
about the results, re-teaching if necessary while providing engagement for
those already comprehending and maintaining records throughout the entire
process. We address only three below!
What to teach?
How does a teacher determine what to teach? Does she
start at page one in the text book or does she look at her students? Does she ascertain their current knowledge or
just begin and try to keep the bored ones in line? Does she assess and
determine a benchmark looking for learning gaps, or plow through the worksheets
racing to the test? The master considers the students and curriculum together.
Presenting the lessons!
Lesson delivery contains a few components necessary for
maximum student engagement and retention. Teacher passion fosters a connection
student, building relevance and developing the material. Without understanding the audience, teacher
delivery is dry or canned at best, attention wanes and behavior issues arise,
because the student "can't sit still." Masters connect, assess, deliver, then
re-assess. Relevance stems from the
relationship a teacher develops with the audience causing the activity to
attract and engage each in the topic. A
back to school quote: Children who are loved at home, come to school to
learn. Those who are not, come to school
to be loved! Teachers take each to their next level, loving the unloved and
growing the rest!
After the lesson!
Does a tree falling in the woods make a sound? If a teacher teaches but nobody learns, did
he really teach? If all the students in the class fail, has the teacher
really taught? What if most fail? What
if none fail? Where is that line? How
many is the right amount to fail? Can
they all pass? I used to ask my students
these question to help students know the responsibility for their learning
rested with each of us. They thought it
was just the student's responsibility. In fact it is everyone's, but the teacher is
the point person, the catalyst, the educational lubricant. If one student gets it, but others do not, do
we look to point blame, or focus energy on helping those that have not mastered
it yet reach their next level? Could
maybe one who has mastered it help explain it to the class under the observing
eye of the teacher? A master teacher that never struggled with learning
prevents their ease of understanding from distracting a young pupil working to
grasp basic comprehension. Maybe the
teacher should just say it louder and slower?
:)
This year, as we all go to another level, what will we
keep? What will we tune? What will we strive to make better for our
students? Are we changing everything or
just a few?
** I heard at one school the wrong response automatically put teachers on a
PIP!
Is reteaching just going slower and louder?
