There are
things in life you simply can’t live without. Family, a beautiful sunny day
every now and then…chocolate J When it comes to my teaching philosophies and my
classroom practices there are also some non-negotiables I’ve developed over the
past 4 years as a teacher and year as an SMU learner. To organize my thoughts (and keep my list
concise!) I’d like to present these non-negotiables using the IDEAL acronym:
Instruction, Discipline, Environment, Assessment, and Leadership.
Instruction: One thing teachers are always lacking is
time. Each day, week, month, we wish we had just a few more minutes or just one
more day to “fit it all in.” However, through the St. Mary’s program I’ve been
exposed to many practices that help me to hone in on the big ideas and
understandings that truly matter. One concept I’ll continue to use in my
classroom is the idea of planning my year around Backwards Design Units. In
doing this, I am forced to focus on the standards and select activities and
lessons that will guide the student to true mastery and application of that standard
and make continuous connections to other standards throughout the school year.
Discipline: How I teach has also been greatly affected
throughout this past year. Not only have I come to see the importance of
teaching using high-yield strategies (such as movement and the use of compare
and contrast) but, through my prior action research, I’ve seen the strong gains
that can be made when students are having FUN and are engaged in what they are
doing! As I enter into a new school year with my same students, I’m sure I’ll
be forced to continue using such
strategies as Reader’s Theater and poetry when working on our fluency. They won’t
let me forget them if I tried! Also, through my elective course on Cooperative
Learning, I’m also very adamant about incorporating more group-work
opportunities and movement while we learn.
Environment: In the area of classroom environment the non-negotiables
for me consist of community and classroom relationship building and using a
more constructivist,
student-centered approach. I’ve always seen the importance and necessity of
building relationships in a classroom and this concept has been reiterated through
my most recent research on best practices of writing. Much of the reason for a student’s
success can be linked to them feeling safe and supported in their learning environment.
Knowing this, and the fact that my students have already spent a year getting
to know each other, I feel that the type of community building we’ll be doing
this year will be more centered around getting to know and support each other
as learners.
Assessment- Following a constructivist approach, one
thing I will be doing more of this year is allowing the students to guide my
instruction through formative assessment.
I feel this will help to focus in on exactly what they already know and
where any misconceptions lie. I also see the strong need to vary the forms of
assessment I plan to use. With the variety of learning styles that occur amongst
my students comes a variety of ways in which they are able to best show what
they know. By varying the assessment formats, I feel I will provide all my
students with an opportunity to succeed in showing me their understanding.
Leadership-While it’s okay to be the “lone nut” dancing
up in front of a classroom, you’re truly not a leader if you have no followers!
I will keep this concept in the forefront of my teaching this year as I now see
the necessity of having followers if you want a “movement” to be successful. The
more my students are buying into what we’re doing, and feel as though they have
equal importance in what we’re doing, the more likely we are to have a
successful year.
No comments:
Post a Comment