In the February 13th meeting, Dawn asked us to consider the following question:
In your career, what actually changed your practice?
Please respond to this question as you please in the comments section of this posting. Here is a link to instructions on how to post a comment to a blog.
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5 comments:
Teaching changed my practice. As I gained more experience, I threw out ideas and methods that didn't work for me and I learned about new ideas and techniques that did work.
Being willing to actually ask my students to evaluate my class at the end of the year-what worked and what didn't, was incredible. Eighth-graders can be very articulate and if you have made your classroom a place where they feel safe to be honest, they will be!
New teachers need to give themselves the room and the time to make mistakes, to learn, to grow and to listen to their students. Teaching changed my teaching.
I always found that teachers who modeled a particular practice helped me shift my thinking. For example, my second week of teaching I was determined to enforce the rules, not be soft, not be taken advantage of. I immediately butted heads with Jon, an F student who missed the first week of classes. I remember Mr. Calderone sat us both down and modeled language that resonated with Jon and me. I learned that rules are negotiable, and Jon raised his grade to a C in my class... his highest grade in English up until that time. What could have been a year of head butting, became an early reconciliation. Mr. Calderone didn't leave it to me to try to "work it out" but was an effective, neutral intermediary. A handful of others have used a similar technique when observing my practice, giving me a real-time feel for how to consider another perspective, without making it seem as if I was inexperienced.
I began teaching in a high school English/Humanities classroom. I enjoyed teaching and felt (at times!) very successful. At other times I felt very discouraged. Talking with my peers and learning to solicit feedback from students gave me confidence and courage during those earliest years.
What really changed my practice, however,...no, changed my whole notion about what is learning and what is knowledge...was becoming a parent and having the opportunity to work in early childhood classrooms. There is nothing more instructive or inspiring to be in the presence of young people trying to sort out the complexities of the world for the first, maybe second or fifth time. It was amazing. I realized how important it was to work to have positive relationships with children, with ideas and materials, with caregivers, to ensure a solid space for intellectual development. Teaching young children taught me to listen carefully, to observe quietly and respectfully, to reflect deeply on how intimate teaching really is, how profoundly teachers and students influence one another. I emerged from those years of parenting and teaching young learners truly changed and inspired.
Every year there has been an event, a student, or an unexpected experience that has changed my teaching. No two years are ever the same. For example, my first job was teaching courses different from my training in a maximum security high school in Ohio. My teacher training was in Latin and ancient Greek. My actual teaching was in English, home ec., health, and business skills. At least I was a little trained in teaching English. On the job, I learned to keep one step or one-half step ahead of the students and that it wasn't the subject matter per se, it was delivery of the learning package that mattered. Being organized, consistent, and fair were really important. Finding the special undiscovered talents of students gave me great joy. I had started with the misconception that high school teaching was about content so I changed a lot. We could talk much longer about how events and people leave their traces.
These are such compelling examples of how teachers think about their practice and the kinds of considerations that changed their practice.
LVB
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