 | I remember during my first years of teaching being shocked at how little control teachers had over what happened in their own classrooms. It didn't take very long before I figured out that teachers were way at the bottom of the political hierarchy and really had very little say in what we taught and how we taught it. When a new mandate would come down from wherever those come from, teachers would be gathered up and instructed as to what new "rule" we had to follow. |
I remember being told that I HAD to use a certain textbook and during an early observation being asked afterwards why I chose to use materials that were NOT in the adopted text.
The power of choice...
With the current movement to encourage more STUDENT choice and to try to instill a sense of STUDENT empowerment, it confuses me why TEACHERS are still so devoted to their precious state-adopted textbooks.
Whenever I attend a training or PD day, there always seems to be a statement about how current adopted texts are not aligned with the Common Core standards. There is always an audible sound which means "yes...we agree" that rises from the crowd after such a statement.
I do NOT subscribe to the "I-use-this-textbook-because-that's-all-my-distrct-has" pedagogy!
With the vast amount of resources that are available for teachers today, we can really stretch our creative "wings" and experiment with materials, techniques, activities, modes of instruction and really begin to fine-tune our teaching expertise.
I personally LOVE having the freedom to choose how my students learn and/or "show what they know". I LOVE not being tied to a set of adopted texts/curriculum.
Will I make a screencast for my students to watch?
Is there an awesome You Tube video another teacher has made?
Will I have my students make a video/presentation/poster, etc.?
Will I send information to my students through a Google Doc or our Google Classroom?
Will we ask/answer a question by using TodaysMeet.com?
The choices are practically endless!
Whenever I attend a training or PD day, there always seems to be a statement about how current adopted texts are not aligned with the Common Core standards. There is always an audible sound which means "yes...we agree" that rises from the crowd after such a statement.
I do NOT subscribe to the "I-use-this-textbook-because-that's-all-my-distrct-has" pedagogy!
With the vast amount of resources that are available for teachers today, we can really stretch our creative "wings" and experiment with materials, techniques, activities, modes of instruction and really begin to fine-tune our teaching expertise.
I personally LOVE having the freedom to choose how my students learn and/or "show what they know". I LOVE not being tied to a set of adopted texts/curriculum.
Will I make a screencast for my students to watch?
Is there an awesome You Tube video another teacher has made?
Will I have my students make a video/presentation/poster, etc.?
Will I send information to my students through a Google Doc or our Google Classroom?
Will we ask/answer a question by using TodaysMeet.com?
The choices are practically endless!
This is the blog post that got me thinking about all of this today. Take a minute and read John Spencer's blog. Then stretch YOUR teaching "wings" a bit. Show a You Tube or Vimeo video about fractions, or ask your students to create posters to teach a science topic to another group of students at your grade level. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear about how you've stepped out of the textbook box!
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