Teaching With Intention: Chapter 2

I'm linking up again, and I'm loving this book!

Real life isn't scripted, neither is real teaching.

I haven't been able to get that quote out of my mind all week.  It seems as if so much of the curriculum we as teachers (at least at the elementary level) are given these days is scripted.  I remember when I taught for a neighboring county and our school bought into Project Grad because a very tiny portion of our school fed into a Project Grad high school.  I distinctly remember getting the math resources and seeing the script I was to read each day.  I was furious.  I couldn't believe that there were people out there telling me what to say to students that neither they nor I had met. Students who were as diverse as they come.  I still get mad thinking about it.  I had only been teaching 3 years at the time and teaching was nothing like what I had learned in my college courses.  

Now, almost 15 years later, we continue to get resources that are scripted.  Why?  A script can't take into account what prior knowledge a child may or may not have.  It cannot meet the needs of individual children!  I found that the scripted reading curriculum I was told to use stifled my creativity as a teacher as well as the students creativity in learning.  

Keeping it real now....  I NEED to read this book!  I think, no, I know-I've gotten so bogged down in all of the changes taking place in education at the moment that I have forgotten why I became a teacher in the first place, especially why I chose the Early Childhood licensure.  I have settled into a routine and it's not a good one.  Sure my kiddos leave first grade having learned the standards for the year, but do they truly understand what they have learned?  Will they remember what they have learned in the future?  Will they be able to say "I had a great time in 1st grade!  We had so much fun and we learned a lot of cool stuff!" Can I honestly say I have held true to my core beliefs as a teacher?  I can't say I like what I'm seeing.  However, I can say that I'm going to work on changing things.  

Ok, so I feel like I rambled for most of this post, but I know my fellow teacher friends will get it.  I can't wait to dive into this book more and to re-evaluate my own beliefs and practices.  It's long overdue!

After looking at the linky posts, I've come back to edit and add the following:

What are your beliefs about teaching and learning?

Well, over the years my beliefs have evolved a little, but honestly they are still pretty much the same.  I believe all children can learn, but they learn differently.  I believe that learning should be done across several modalities (I know I don't learn by only listening or by only doing, but a combination of many different ways.  I believe that learning should be fun and is often best done in a play setting during the early years.  

How do you build a sense of community in your classroom?

I start the year by having students come up with the rules with me.  We discuss how we are all a classroom family for the year, that we may not always agree, but we will treat each other with respect.  I have let students also help me come up with consequences, depending on the students I have.  Another way I build community is by having students work in groups often, and those groups change, depending on the task.  I expect that we all learn to work together and I model that a lot at the beginning of the year.

How do you go about teaching kids something new?

Well, that depends on what it is that I'm teaching.  Sometimes I will use small groups, sometimes whole group.  I try to involve students as much as possible, though.  I want them to own their learning.