Learning to Teach

It has taken me a long time to write this post. In the beginning I was very excited to start blogging and share my experience with other educators. Unexpectedly and noticeably, the blog started to become something else. The focus started to be about view counts and comments. I started to feel like I wasn't this great teacher that I thought I was and I was scared to write about my ups and downs. What would people think if they knew that I found changes and improvements to the units I was teaching?  Would anyone want to read what I was saying if all I had were questions instead of knowing all of the answers? This anxiety got the best of me for a very long time. This is why I stopped blogging. I was scared to show myself, except I started to realize that I got into blogging to show myself... all of it. I am not the most amazing teacher (...yet), but I am a teacher that is constantly learning and evolving. I am a teacher that wants to be honest with my p...

I know I have been on hiatus from my blog for the past few months and I apologize for that. I always forget how starting the school year is so time consuming (no matter how many times you have done it in the past). Lately I have been thinking about what makes a good teacher. In Wisconsin I hear a lot teacher backlash and I found myself more and more sad about this take on teachers. I have heard things like "teaching USED to be a profession and now it is just lazy people who want to get paid more for doing less" or "teachers are sleeping through their classes and don't care about my child... tax dollars should not go toward education". I highly disagree with both of these statements, but I can see how easy it is to judge someone or something that you don't know that much about. I teach my 7th graders about stereotyping and how they can't judge a whole group on the actions of a certain few... I wish some adults could learn about this too. Back to my questi...

Do you still feel like a new teacher even though you have been teaching for years? This past year was the first time that I didn't feel like a new teacher, but it took until January to feel that way. I just finished my fifth year teaching. Does that mean that I was technically a new teacher for a year and I just felt like it was my first year each year after? Is the label 'New Teacher' a mindset or a time limit? When each year feels like the first year, it isn't necessarily a bad thing. I hope to never lose the nervous feeling before the first day of school, keep getting excited every time a student understands something new, and sustain the energy to keep up with my middle school students. Do new teachers have more energy? More enthusiasm ? I think they seem like they have more, but it may be because somewhere along the way teachers lose some of these qualities. Maybe they are overworked, underpaid, or stressed out. Educators need to realize the qualities that new teac...

This year was my fifth year of teaching and I have changed more in this year than any other year. This was the first time that I didn't feel like a newbie. During this past school year I've learned... that my opinions do matter and I need to share them I understand more than people think I do about education despite how young I may look leadership skills can be developed, you just have to work hard google apps are so helpful in education hard work does pay off, it may just not be the payoff that you thought it would be your passion is something to take care of so it doesn't fade

Last year at this time, I was sad because I realized that there were some kids in my class that I didn't really know. They sat quietly, turned things in on time, and never complained. I realized that some kids are easy to connect with because they work on it just as much as I do, while others shy away from it. Aren't these students the ones I should be working harder to connect with? This year I made connecting with my students a much higher priority. We only have two and a half days left in school and I am sad again. This year is different though -- I am sad because they are leaving. My wonderful students are heading to high school and I don't want to let them go. I worked very hard this year to make connections with all of my students. I had them write me letters to introduce themselves (no parameters), I take evaluations and feedback on my lessons from them (because who else could tell me if the lesson was effective), and I presented opportunities for them to share the...

I had a great #edchat on how we can change the negative perception on education. @ unklar and @ MisterEason started talking about how to determine the definition of a "good" teacher, which got me thinking... What makes a good teacher? I am sure there are many more attributes, but these are the top three that I thought of. A good teacher is someone who makes connections with students, administrators and community members. Building relationships is very important in education. So many times teachers don't value the connections they have with their own students. These connections do not always come easily and teachers need to work on them constantly throughout the year. The connections teachers make with each other and with administrators is also important. Good teachers become leaders and help those around them for the benefit of the students. In today's world, it is more important than ever to build connections between your school and the community. I have seen f...

Talking about grading can lead to heated debate. I have been in many of these conversations and I know that people have their own opinions. If you have been reading my blog, you would know that I am going toward Standards Based Grading. Here are my current thoughts on grading. 'Tis the season of grading! As the year wraps up, grades are what determines who gets to partake in end of the year activities. This made me reflect on grades and the whole practice of grading. Don't get me wrong, I think grades are okay when they really mean something - when they help a student really understand where they are and how they can grow. So here is my question: Who really fails when you give out an F? I have some students who are not failing, but they are doing worse then I think they are capable of. Some people might think that the student is just lazy, but not me. I read a book awhile back called The Myth of Laziness by Mel Levine, and it made me look at the idea of lazines...