Week Four

How different is your current classroom from the one in which you learned when you were a student?

Its almost been twenty years since I was a high school student. I had a great high school experience, loved school and was involved with lots of sports. I went to a school with around 1,000 students in grades nine through twelve and I was lucky enough to have the same math teacher three out of those four years. 

He was a great teacher by the name of Mr. Campbell. He was probably in his sixties and had been teaching at this same school for years. Every day he would come into the room and we would all have our homework out on our desks, which were lined up in rows and he would walk around and check it. Then he would teach a lesson at the board and we would all write down each problem in our notebooks. We would be assigned the evens (or odds, I can't remember) to do for homework. Each day was predictable and I liked that. I remember that we had to buy a TI-83 to use in the classroom (I still have mine and break it out to show some of the students I teach every now and then). I did great in math class and really enjoyed learning and the math came easy to me. 

Currently in my math classroom, the desks are in groups of fours scattered around the room. Students read from a textbook and work though real life problems. I walk around the room asking (and answering) questions to make sure students are on the right track. 

When the class is over, I post homework online with links to Khan Academy videos explaining the topic that we learned about. I also post study guide worksheet online with my answer key. Additionally, if I feel the topic is very difficult I will post a video of myself working through one of the problems. This is all quite different than from when I was a student and it is mainly because of the availability of technology. 

I found an article from Edutopia titled 15 Characteristics of a 21st-Century Teacher. The author goes through the fifteen characteristics of a teacher, I can relate to using some of them currently like number five: using smartphones in the classroom; number 7: go digital; number 10: connect; number 12: positive digital footprint as a teacher; and number 15: keep learning. 

I am by no means a technology expert, I use it seldom during class time (unless it is a graphing calculator...these are still technology, right?). However I have begun to put more of the class notes, study guides, web links and video tutorials online for the class to view as needed.

In another twenty years, I will probably still be in the classroom teaching. Who knows what new thing we will be using to enhance our lessons at that time.

Week Three

What role does professional satisfaction play in the effectiveness of a classroom?

Before reading the third part in Dave Burgess book Teach Like a Pirate, I would have said that professional satisfaction plays a small role in an effective classroom. However, after reading, I would say that it plays a major part in how effective teachers classrooms. 

First, as a teacher "we are in a service profession" (Burgess) so that means we are always looking to better ourselves. At the end of each day we think back and analyze how our day went. We go home and cook dinner, take care of our families and prepare for the next day all while reflecting on what we could have done better. How could we have taught that lesson differently, reacted differently, each decision continuously running through our heads even as we lay down to sleep. 

Secondly, the way we are teaching is changing. New technology is being introduced at such a high rate that once you learn a program there is a new and improved one just being released. Take the time to learn about the technology, students will react to it, and use it as a way to enhance the lesson. Teachers are also responsible for more of the social emotional child than ever before. If we can't meet the needs of these students emotionally then there is no way that we will reach them academically.  

Lastly, we must rely on our own inner satisfaction because there will be is no external. People are always looking to put teachers down, its the easy thing to do. "When criticism comes, take a moment to evaluate it" (Burgess) if it is something you can use to improve your craft great, if not move on. If you taught a killer lesson, tell people about it. If that student who you've been trying to reach all year finally opened up to you, tell people about it. We have to be able to toot our own horns once in a while to feel that satisfaction.


Find a great group of teachers and use them to help you improve, "take counsel from a wide variety of people and see out multiple perspectives." (Burgess) Get involved with social media, there are tons of groups to join with people willing to give feedback and ideas on new lessons. Be proud, be great and continue to grow.

Sources:
Burgess, D. (2012). Teach like a pirate: Increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and 

transform your life as an educator. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting.

Week Two

How do we keep our lessons engaging?

We all went to school to be teachers, we learned the content and we studied the different methods but we never really talked about presentation. The way that we present the material, the way that we deliver it can make all the difference. The image to the left comes from the book How to Teach Like a Pirate, Dave Burgess the author talks a lot about the circle on presentation.


At length, Burgess talks about the "hook" as a way to keep students engaged in his class. The hook can be any number of things including; objects, people, internet, moving outside of the classroom, music, movement, art, real-world application, life-changing lesson, student choice, news, current events, physically transforming the classroom, messages on the door or board, costume and props, involving the audience, technology, class contest, food, and extra-credit. All of these are amazing examples of how to get students involved and engaged in the lesson. I personally have only tried a few of these hooks, however I am inspired after reading all about them in our book. It is the end of the school year, but my goal is to use more of these hooks next year as I deliver my lessons.

From the online website Edutopia I found an article about a special education teacher who was forced to teach math - a subject that they were not excited about teaching. But after talking with the co-teacher they came up with a way to make the lesson more engaging for not only themselves but the children in the classroom. This teacher had the students to write story problems that related to them (forget about how much carpet we should buy or how much fence is needed to enclose the apple trees) this teacher made the lesson interesting to the students by giving them a choice and letting them create the story. Another suggestion from this article was to have students make story books like a babies board book - simple and easy to read with nice big pictures. This activity also helped to keep the students engaged because they were collaborating and creating.

Does innovation play a part in this?

Being creative does not come naturally, you have to work at it. For every creative, interactive and over the top lesson that is a success there will be multiple failures. Dave Burgess writes in his book How to Teach Like a Pirate that he's taken many years to develop lessons that grab students attention. In fact he states that its been sixteen years of "failures and lessons that blew up in my face." (Burgess, 625/2084) Yes, innovation plays a part in capturing students attention but as teachers we must accept the fact that it will take practice.

Multiple times throughout the book, Burgess mentions the connections that he strives to make with his students. He believes that without a sense of trust and a feeling of safety from his students nothing else matters.  That connection between teacher and student is the glue to all of the innovating lessons to come.

In an article from Nation at Hope, they write about the importance of "a more balanced approach to teaching and learning" by developing the social emotional learner first and then focus on the academic learner. We know that students learn best when they feel safe and this focus is a shift in education, we need to focus on the whole child to help them become the best they can be.



Sources:
Edutopia Article:  https://www.edutopia.org/article/learning-math-seeing-it-story
Burgess, D. (2012). Teach like a pirate: Increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and 
transform your life as an educator. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting.
Nation at Hope Article: http://nationathope.org/report-from-the-nation/chapter-1-how-learning-happens/