After 20 years of teaching, I've seen a lot of faces come and go through my teaching space. As I watched this video, the students all looked so sad....not bored....not disinterested...not emotionless...definitely, sad. I couldn't help wonder, if they were coached by the video's director to make themselves look so sorrowful.
When I considered what makes me sad about education, the first thing that popped in my mind was the lack of physical engagement in most classes...frontal teaching is a huge loss of potential for learners. If our students want to create, manipulate and experience what they are learning, educators will certainly have to move away from pencil and paper pushing activities, and adopt and provide more hands on learning experiences. Hmmmmm...does this mean that we may need to reconsider all this test, test and more tests mentality? I would give a HUGE "yes" response to that notion.
I have long felt that creativity was being sucked out of the classroom, due to the high emphasis on test score. We have access to more technology and creative opportunities than ever before, yet many innovative ideas are put on the back burner and unused. More is the pity that teachers feel they can no longer interject their own passions and interests into the curriculum for fear of falling behind their scope and sequence plans and assessments.
One of the cardboard messages mentioned that the majority of folks will have about 14 jobs, before turning the age of 38. I had to test that notion and began counting. I started my pursuit for the green dollar when I was 12 years old and have had eleven significant, money making positions--that's pretty close. I was always attracted to jobs that allowed me to be mobile, inside or outside; gave me opportunities to interact with others; and kept my fun factor very high. Teaching by far has been the funnest.
Most of the changes, I made from job to job, were moves I made to accommodate my progress from teen to young adult. I never thought I'd stick with any of my positions for long. They were just stepping stones that made me some bucks, until I could land a teaching position. Once I got my break into the public schools, I never looked back. Teaching has so much going on, I don't know how I could ever get bored with it....thanks to the oodles of children that plow through my gym doors ready to play and learn together!
I just pray that I don't make it boring for the 21st century learners in my classes. I don't want anyone associating sadness to what I present and my students get to do in my classroom.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment