My living room floor is covered in books, bags of play-doh, math
manipulatives, files, and papers. The kitchen counter looks about the same. So
does the table, the sofa, my bed. Summer is ending and it’s time to get those
lesson plans straightened out to start the year. I could do this at school, but
my classroom is in a dark basement with no windows, and the sun is shining.
I’ve spent quite a few hours this past week searching Pinterest and blogs,
going through old plan books and files, reading teacher’s guides, and of
course navigating my fancy new Common Core app for just the right mix of beginning of the
year lessons. I’ve also spent a lot of time reflecting on how we make these
decisions.
In the past, I’ve been almost militantly focused on academics. In my mind,
there wasn’t a moment to waste in Learning Land. No point in waiting to begin
the curriculum. The first day was no excuse to skip math. It was as good a day
as any to start teaching about making inferences. We could build community and
practice procedures while also learning about writing personal narratives.
I’m now at a school that has better test scores and more emphasis on
community building. Since they don’t use Title 1 funds, there isn’t nearly the
pressure to make AYP, but there is pressure to make sure the kids are having
fun. There is even discussion among some about holding off on academics
completely until mid-October in order to spend time building community and
establishing routines and expectations.
Adding to my mid-day musings is the summer class I took on curriculum
development where we explored foundational philosophies: Are we training future
workers? Are we developing future citizens? Are we raising moral, fully
actualized human beings? Is learning about exploration? Is it about
acquiring knowledge? Is it about developing critical thinking? Is it about
developing creativity?
When your district passes out a Teacher’s Guide, is that the end of the
discussion? March dutifully from one lesson to the next until you get to the
last page? Do we look at what will be tested and work back from there? Do we
learn what our students’ interests are and plan around that? Look at the Common
Core Standards and plan around those? Do we follow the direction of the
community that surrounds our schools and teach what the parents want us to
teach? Or teach what the companies that will someday employ our children want
us to teach?
If you had asked me a few years ago, I would have confidently outlined what
I believed to be the “right” approach to starting the year. Now I find myself a
bit more conflicted. I know this is a little wishy-washy sounding, but they are
all right in some ways…and all wrong in some ways…and right for some kids, but
wrong for other kids…
We need to raise academic achievement, but we also need to raise children.
We need to build communities and build knowledge. We need to follow the
standards, and sometimes we need to go down the rabbit trail of whimsy.
I have often hoped over the years that at some point I would figure out the
perfect way to do this that would meet the needs of all learners, result in
stratospheric test scores, and make all the parents and administrators
happy. Instead of finding clarity, the longer I do this the more
multifarious it becomes.
How do you decide what to teach? Who decides what you teach?
I share your dilemma. It seems to me that what we teach has been determined by the government. My state has standards, and my district has suggested pacing guides. The only piece I feel we have control over at my site is how we teach. It is in the how we teach where I feel we can make a difference. After teaching general education for many years, I am now in a position (special education) where I am in and out of teachers rooms. I am so impressed by one teacher’s ability to actively engage her students. They are responding to her, talking and explaining to each other, using the language of the discipline,and making connections. They laugh, celebrate successes, examine their thinking when mistakes are made, and are challenged. This teacher and I take a collective responsibility for the students we share, and this has made a difference.
A windowless basement room? Why do they do that? Didn’t they pass laws about 100 years ago about shutting children off from light and air?
I love this post. I feel like it’s all the PD time I need to get ready for school. Excellent questions!
I don’t separate between academics and community. I don’t know why they are entwined for me, but they are. My kids are people who are growing up and learning to be happy, successful, competent adults. My job is to help them get there. In my room, that’s in all the normal “I’m a grownup helping you grow up” ways and also with reading and writing and history.
This year I’m teaching a reading intervention class for kids who haven’t yet met state standards in reading.
While I’ve always been a strong reader and writer, I spent years being babysat in remedial math classes. I know what it’s like to be the below standard kid. And I can tell you, I would have much preferred a drill sergeant for a year than a den mom for four.
So this year, my goal is to get those kids above standard, and we’re not going to pretend we’re good at reading. We’re going to work really hard, and be done with this as soon as possible. We’re going to confront scores, we’re going to track progress, and we’re going to make sure that in the spring they kick butt on the state test.
And, along the way, they will learn a thousand small lessons on how to get along in this world and why they are exceptional, loveable human beings.
First lesson? A phonics-fluency partner game I got off of http://www.fcrr.org/FAIR_Search_Tool/FAIR_Search_Tool.aspx
Doing well, or doing not so well. Being the best in the room, or the worst. Cheering your partner on. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses. Measuring your fluency. Learning to chart and track results, and be honest with your skills. The gun goes off and we’re racing.
I feel your conflict! I keep asking myself, how, after twelve years of teaching can the begining of the school year feel so terrifying. The balance of community building and diving into academic work is what I am aiming for and hoping to hit. As long as the kids know they are welcomed, cared for, and expected to work harder than they ever felt capable of, I will be satisfied.
How do I decide what to teach?
Well, in my tenth grade biology class, I really do focus on the state standards. However, for the past few years, at least, I have been making a very conscious effort to focus on community building over content, especially at the beginning of the year–without a strong learning community, very little learning actually happens.
My junior/senior chemistry class poses more questions in terms of what to teach. The level of chemistry is above the state standards, so there is little guidance there. I have looked at the national standards, but I haven’t particularly picked one set of national standards and tried to use those. When the Next Generation Science standards come on board, I will likely look to those. My goal in chemistry is to prepare students for college chemistry, but because I don’t have a set of standards, I have a lot more leeway in terms of professional judgement and following student interests in deciding what to teach.