LitBlog
Just a LIT-tle bit about everything... education, travel, books... and whatever else strikes my interests.
Education today is like a 3 ring circus and the teachers are the main event. We're jumping through hoops of fire while people are shooting paint balls at us and we're trying to perform a perfect technique ballet routine and balance a glass of water on our nose all at the same time. That glass of water is our students. We're trying to fill them with knowledge and every time the glass gets knocked by a paint ball or we falter in our ballet routine, some of the water splashes out. So rather than filling them up, were just trying not to lose what they already know. All the "responsibilities and duties" of teachers beyond planning engaging, student-centered lessons, takes time away from what really matters; student growth. Yes, some of these duties and responsibilities are necessary, but education as a whole throughout the nation has done a great job of pushing the responsibility of student learning and growth onto the shoulders of teachers while removing it from the students. Teachers are pushing students to pass tests for the sake of demonstrating that the teacher has taught what the state wants students to know, but those students don't retain much of that information. Imagine a glass of water, half full. Students come into my room at the beginning of the semester knowing something, they start as a half full glass of water. I became a teacher to help change that student, help them grow. I want them to leave my room a delicious glass of ice cold lemonade. So I teach them. I teach the standards the state requires. I teach them test taking strategies. I teach them how to study the binder full of notes I've expertly crafted, based on the support document given to me to help my students achieve mastery on a state test that students know they need to take but that they don't necessarily need to pass to get credit for the class. I make my assignments rigorous, so students have to demonstrate they've learned something. Many of my students pass the test, some do not. Speaking to students who have passed the test, even those who score A's & B's tell me there is a lot they don't remember, even just a few weeks or months after they've left my classroom. My little water glasses have been filled with lots of ice and not enough lemon and sugar. The ice fills the glass and the level of water in the glass rises to their growth target, but over time the ice melts and some water evaporates and the level of the water decreases. The ratio of water, sugar, and lemon is wrong- you can taste hints of lemon and sugar, but too much ice has watered it down. Yes, I'm partially to blame for filing the glass with to much ice, but when your pressed for time, with 90 glasses of lemonade to make, some of which have less water in them or cracks and holes where water is constantly dripping out, a limited amount of lemon and sugar which has to be shared by all the glasses, and the masses demanding data that your lemonade is meeting a standard set by someone who's never made or even tasted lemonade, you do the best you can, pour your heart and soul into it and silently pray you didn't miss a fly or bee landing in one of your glasses.
Teachers want to teach. We want to help our students grow, become critical thinkers and problem-solvers, and develop into well-rounded individuals. We want to have student-centered, inquiry-based learning in our rooms. We want to find ways to tie students' interests to our content but, we need our students to pass a test that doesn't take their individual learning styles or interests into account. We're told to differentiate learning, but students need to pass a test which doesn't allow for differentiation. Schools are rated on how many of their students can pass a test, not on how many students have grown from the beginning to the end of the school year. Teachers are evaluated on extensive, detailed, rubrics that ask teachers to jump through hoops, fill the boards with information, tell the students how and why were learning this, and what they'll be able to do, but we spend so much time doing all of this, students are losing precious minutes everyday that could be used for deepening understanding of content. I just want to teach my kids. I want to teach them responsibility, and time management, and respect. I want to teach them why our founding fathers wrote the electoral college into the Constitution and why the League of Nations failed. I want them to investigate the evolution of the presidency and consider what would happen if the cabinet does invoke Section 4 of the 25th amendment. I want them to question. I want them to create. I want them to leave my room knowing someone cares about them enough to push them to keep questioning and creating. I want my students to be well-rounded, well-educated individuals, not circle-filling clones who can regurgitate information. Don't get me wrong, teachers should be held accountable for what they do in their classrooms. Students should know why they are learning what the teacher is teaching. We need balance. Standards should be a guideline, to help teachers guide students through content while allowing teachers to bring in other topics and learning experiences. We need to be preparing our students for the real world. Standardized tests don't project real world experiences. Students need experiences that allow them to consider, wonder, think critically, problem-solve, and create. I do my best to challenge my students, to teach them soft skills, to let them explore the content. Despite all the challenges of the semester I will find new ways to challenge my students. They will question, consider, and create. They will work harder than they ever have before. But at the end of the semester, they will know things, really know them.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJust a nerdy history teacher trying to share history and education with the world. #historynerd #edutechnerd #iloveSumterSCschools #ChangingLivesOneStudentAtATime Archives
July 2019
Categories |