Be comfortable in your own skin and innocent like a child. (My baby, Leia, now 4 months.)In my career teaching 5th graders more so than not what is planned does not work out the way it is planned. I constantly need to re-evaluate and make adjustments. I have learned through my years of experience to be flexible and always allow for change. This has helped me tremendously to roll with the punches and make the most of every situation. For example we have a laptop mobile lab and some of the laptops were being worked on to correct flickering screens. This was a frustration for all the teachers and some teachers would not use them until there was one for each student. I chose to create a project where my students worked with a partner. I tried to encourage other teachers to do the same. Some did and some did not.
I believe I was holding back in the area of where I wanted to go with my teaching. I wanted to reach the 21st century learner with technology, but was overwhelmed with teaching all subject areas and having limited time to check out all the available technology resources. This past year has been a wonderful opportunity exposing and using some Web 2.0 tools within the classroom. I believe I now am allowing myself to participate wholly by using different technology tools in the classroom and if it works great I will perfect it and use it again and if it doesn’t work then lesson learned and I know to move towards a different avenue.
I encourage students to express themselves and to be confident with how they feel moved to present themselves. In my class we hold class elections every quarter and all candidates give a speech before our election process. Most students write out their speech and nervously read it. I distinctly remember this one young lady got up and sang her speech. I applauded her for her creativity and I will never forget her unique way of delivering her speech. I find it important in 5th grade to encourage students to be who they are and to be comfortable with themselves as middle school is a challenge for students to “find themselves.”
Collette
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that we have to be comfortable in what we do and have courage to do it. It is part of the teacher's job to show the kids that it is OK to be different. Many times teachers want everyone to be the same for easier grading and those individuals, who are different, are perceived as rule-breakers. I envy you for encouraging differences between the students.
I also agree that all that we learned over this past year is just siting quietly to be unleashed once we have the time to do it. I compare this program to a quick tour of a huge castle. We were given the keys, we peaked behind all the doors. Once the "master is gone" we will explore all the places one by one; at our own pace, and as deep as we want. But we've got the keys! For me, too, it seems just like a beginning!
What a wonderful story about allow your students engage in the moment and for also allowing them to wholly participate. I think our very own governmental elections would be more enjoyable and fun if candidates sang their speeches. I would be like living in a musical or in Glee!.
ReplyDeleteCollette I feel the same way, I was overwhelmed with taking the time to learn new skills and find resources for my classroom. This degree while at times has been a difficult year was well worth the work because now I feel like I have been given a sense of direction and am able to bring many new resources and ideas into my classroom.
ReplyDeleteIt is so important to allow for exploration and discovery at all age, but most definitely in the upper elementary years. A friend and I "discovered" the fun of making movies in the 7th grade, this was back in the day of silent 8mm film, and we set about just filming action sequences that eventually became a movie about the westward movement of the post civil war era. We eventually shared our creation with our social studies class and I quickly discovered that a little creativity went a long way toward getting an A and having fun.
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