My, my it's been too long! I know that my blog was going to be a reflective part of my teaching and learning as an educator but sometimes life just catches up with you. In having wedding social, bridal shower within the past 2 months ....and overall - planning a wedding - thats only less than 3 months away----time tends to escape you!
"Return of the @nnevieri"
I have never felt like I've been in such a "great spot" with my students, as I have been the past two months. April/May is the time of year in a classroom where things are just right. Everything is working like a well-oiled machine, as a teacher you loosen up with the kids more, kids are meeting the individual goals they've set for themselves (and even as a teacher, the ones that you hope they'd meet).
On the other hand, for some, this is that time of year where teachers begin to stress and panic. Assessment time is upon us and we tend to start getting out the checklists and start to make our little checkmarks. Well, not in my classroom (and I'm hoping not in most).
Of course, there's always assessment that is required and I'm not saying that it should be put to the wayside or not important. But...by this time in the year, if you truly know your students. If you truly, have that connection and investment with you students. There's no need to get out that red pen and begin the stressing and panicking. If you truly know your kids....you know where they are. You know where they came from and how hard they have worked to get where they are. Most importantly, you look at their learning experiences!
Some teachers get so caught up in outcomes and expectations and checking off those boxes in rigid rubrics, that they forget to look at the whole child and the whole learning experience. They forget that learning is an experience, not a checklist. You must be thinking, "what are you ranting about, of course you need to keep track of their progress and achievements! Don't you?!." Yes! I agree! I do! Student progress, achievement and assessment need to be monitored and recorded - you need that data to assess and plan for future teaching. But we also need to stop pigeon-holing kids due to test scores and random worksheets based on what outcomes you were planning on teaching that day.
As a teacher, I rarely look at my curriculum documents and plan which learning outcomes are going to be met a specific day or week (as some teachers still do). I look at the experiences I want my students to have related to that unit of study. Honest to goodness------99.9999% of the time, when I go back and open that document, I have hit every single outcome in that unit.
Essentially, I believe in not getting caught up on checking off the outcomes that you're "getting through." What student gets excited about "getting through" a unit?
Kids "get through" waiting to go to the bathroom when you've told them to hold it until you're done explaining a lesson.
Kids "get through" waiting for kids to stop talking, so that their class can start walking to gym class.
Kids "get through" holding back tears when they've skinned their knee on the playground, so their friends won't see them cry.
Do we really want them to "get through" learning?
Do we really want them to cover the curriculum rather than "DISCOVERING" it?
What good is a checkmark in a teacher's book, if they don't understand the concepts?
What good is a checkmark in a teacher's book, if they don't experience the excitement in the learning?
Unfortunately, there are still teachers who take these next 2 months to stress, panic and make checkmarks on outcomes they've "gotten through."
Hopefully, this has inspired a new way of using learning experiences rather than strictly outcome-driven checkmarks for assessment.
Remember to DISCOVER, not COVER all the wonderful things your students are yearning to experience.
-Nadia :)
