Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Teaching

I have been teaching at a wonderful school, in a safe neighborhood. Most of the students are middle-class. I have had to wonderful opportunity to work with honor's students and others who are capable, and for the most part motivated to learn. In other words, they would "get it" even from a teacher who lacks conviction and passion. No offense to any teachers out there feeling burned out. It is a major hazard in the teaching profession!

I want to work with kids who would NOT get it without the support of a dynamic school environment and/or a dynamic teacher. My passion for doing this work is a driving force for me to constantly improve my practice as a teacher.

I may be leaving the standard public school arena and moving to a charter school. This will require to up my game and put my money where my mouth is. My sister is a principal at a charter middle school in Southern CA. She requires her teachers to submit, for approval, lesson plans a week in advance. Although I have reservations about this, including, but not limited to - "What do you do if you can't finish your lesson, and what if you need to reteach? I haven't spoken with her about this. She is very busy, so I don't call too often. Besides, to keep peace in the family, I would not got work for my sister. I love her, we are very different, and often have trouble communicating.

Truly though, If I want to be a "kick ass" teacher, wouldn't I want to make it a practice to plan well ahead so that I could be more successful? By that I mean, planning ahead with the caveat that I would need to be flexible!

Any and all comments are welcome!

2 comments:

  1. What grade do you teach? Just curious.

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  2. I teach at a title one school for the very reasons you mentioned. I have to be on top of things to get my students interest and effort. Planning ahead is a big part of behavior management too. When lessons are well planned, with a variety of activities implemented, students tend to stay on task. I personally like the SIOP format. I don't mind being flexible in order to accomodate reteaching, but outside interruptions (last minute assemblies and excessive district assessments) that really throw me off.

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