Quite a few days have passed since my last blog post from my 30-day blog challenge. I have been wrapped up in so much, as is usual at this time of the year. But then again, when aren't teacher busy? When aren't we wrapped up in planning, training, or meetings of some sort? Aside from actually teaching, this is all part of what our job, right? All these "extra" responsibilities take time away from what we love to do: teach!
So the challenge today in this Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge for Teachers is to respond to the question: What do you love most about teaching? Hands down, one of the things I love most is the interaction with my high school students! Teenagers bring a certain kind of energy and enthusiasm to the classroom, many times taking me by surprise by what they say. But I also love to see their growth, especially in my Spanish classroom. They come in full of doubt and fear but eventually come to realize that they can do it...they can speak Spanish! I also love seeing them grow and develop as young adults. When you teach them for more than a year, you have a front row seat to this and find joy in their successes. This is how I feel about my students. Another thing I love about my job is the bigger idea that I am contributing to the future. I am involved in what can shape another human being. Working with amazing educators, we are all involved in this contribution. We take great pride in our efforts, looking for how we can best serve our students. This ethic and dedication I love and admire! Knowing that I am part of a group of people that share my desire to do good for our students, who strive to be the best teachers they can be, make my days at work worth it (even some of the hard days). Becoming a teacher was a choice, but what loving what I do is not. It just happens naturally!
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Being a new teacher leaves you to wonder if you're doing it right. Am I reaching them? Or am I just getting by? We dread the days when we are being observed/evaluated, but dread even more the feedback that may come after. We know we try our best, yet we anxiously await the post observation report, only to take it apart and be more critical of ourselves than any report would be. Even if we do well, we look at where we can/would like to improve. It's reflective, it's what we do. Because we want to be the best teacher we can be!
In looking at my own evaluations, I've taken a look at the strand that speaks of developing critical thinking and problem solving skills. Helping students develop their critical thinking skills means we are making them 21 century learners. In the World Language classroom, what might this look like? I immediately thought of project based learning, where students work on a given project, with each part of the project working towards an end goal of learning a particular point. Lucky for me, I came across a blog by a fellow Spanish teacher and blogger, Laura Sexton (@SraSpanglish), who writes about problem based learning in the target langue in her blog PBL in the TL. In her blog, Laura Sexton offers a plethora of resources to use projects as a basis to learn. The goal is always for the students to use these projects as a means to use the target language (in this case Spanish) in a way they wouldn't normally be able to if they only followed a textbook. It invites critical thinking, communication and collaboration, all 21st century skills. The further you delve into the blog, the more resources you find that you can choose from. My task: study the array of ideas and pick one, just one, to start with and use it to meet my students at their level. I'm sure the end result will mean more communication in the TL, more insight for them to things relevant in any language, and a greater understanding that language does not separate people...it connects them! Next on my blog challenge: What technology would I like to use this year?
As a high school teacher in a 1:1 district, we get to have Macbooks available to us. So this clearly allows me the opportunity to try new tech in the classroom. But what do I try first? How to choose what will work for my students? I've gone most of the year using G-Suite in an effort to make my classroom a more "student-centered" classroom. I've branched out to use #BookSnapsREAL and #Flipgrid where my students would be highly engaged and the activities were ALL ABOUT THEM! So what would I like to use that I haven't already? Hyperdocs! Having to use hyperdocs in some PDs I've attended, I can appreciate the ease with which all the information I need to get started is readily available at my fingertips. This is what I want for my students. To anticipate what they would need and have this readily available for them really takes a lot of the pressure off me, and puts the accountability on them. They can work at their pace, and I am more available to support those students that may need it. So, I am in the process of creating my first hyperdoc. Hopefully, if I can anticipate their questions and needs correctly to provide them with enough material so that they'll be able to use it to guide them in this next phase of our unit, Latin American Art! I won't know until I try! :) As the countdown to the end of year rounds the corner, I begin my 30-day blogging challenge. It is a chance for me to briefly reflect on my daily activities, expectations, and successes and/or failures. And so here I go!
My first challenge is to express my goals for the school year. Being that we are only a few short weeks away, my goals are different than then would be in September. But right off the bat, first goal is to make sure my students walk out of my classroom with the realization that language acquisition is a process, building on foundation, and not necessarily going over drills and vocab lists. Not to point speak ill of any teacher who use them, but I moved away from this more this year. The direct approach to using the language, though many times frustrating for them, is more effective in the long run. My hope is that they feel they have gained some footing with the language to continue their acquisition journey. Other goals are to incorporate light hearted methods and make the end of the year more fun and engaging for them. I'm leaning towards using student choice to help with this. By giving them a voice in how they create these last projects, I am taking the pressure of myself to find a means that fits everyone. By focusing on my goal of assessing what they've learned, and allowing them to choose their outlet, minimizing the pressure they may feel with a "one way fits all" approach. Yes, the goal is to assess, but I want them to be genuine in their interest and be vested in the final product. If I can get this to happen, it's a win for me and them! We'll see! I have to say, I have enjoyed being able to blog about my experiences in the classroom and doing so at my pace. No one is hovering, maybe someone is reading. But what next? Where do I go from here? How am I going to continue on my journey of discovery as a new teacher embracing new ideas?
As I look to how I am going to move forward, the thought of maintaining a blog seems a little scary, but also could serve as a means to reflect on my day/week/month/year. Now that we are quickly approaching the end of the year, I can decide what direction to take this in. Keeping this in mind, I've decided to take the Reflective Teaching - A 30 Day Blog Challenge for Teachers. I feel that this would be a good way for me to really take a moment and weigh in on how my year is wrapping up. Two years in the books...many more to go. I remember how I felt last year at this time, glad to almost make it through the first year of teaching. I don't feel quite as anxious but the stress is still apparent. This time it's a different stress. I am stressing about how to make the end of the year meaningful as opposed to "just making it." I feel this 30 day blog challenge will help me reflect, assess my direction, and adjust if I need to. So, after a short recess, I will start my 30 day blog challenge! Be sure to check back and see where it may lead! |
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