I restrained myself. I didn't weigh in because usually the loudest voices can be chalked up to the experts that know everything about teaching and schools because they were once students. That noise is easy to ignore. What is harder to ignore are the national publications and politicians giving their five bucks worth. So here is my two cents.
STOP telling people my students are missing out. Those expectations are yours, grown ups. They are missing out on what YOU think school should be. I promise teachers are planning exciting and engaging lessons. I promise kids are busy with the business of being kids, and when I do hear them complain it is an echo of an adult that has never been in our classroom. In general, if you are so focused on what you don't have or "are missing" your mind is not free to appreciate what you do have. Do I wish I didn't have to keep my students a meter apart? Of course. The lack of group work inside, provides us with opportunities to collaborate in outside games. Do I wish my students could bring show and tell to school? Definitely, but we have learned to share videos and can have modified show and tell. Do I wish I didn't have to schedule classroom lunch and limited teachers? Absolutely. My floor has never been dirtier, but my students have never been so concerned about the cleanliness of their own desks. You could ask me a thousand questions like this. I don't have time to push into all the what ifs. There are simply too many this year. I HAVE to focus on the new directions, creative paths, and unique opportunities for learning that must take place to address teaching with new rules. Yet, imagine those that are so distracted by missing out on a sun roof in their car that they can't appreciate the view through the windows. I do not believe the missing out crowd comprehends the definition of school and learning when espousing their ideas. Teachers have known for years that accelerated standards are forcing too much learning too early. We've known for years that learning is a progression, not a small window that can be missed. We also know teachers and students create their "normal" together as a learning community. This pandemic didn't cause teachers to care less about their job or students. It didn't make learning outcomes vanish. Every year, we work toward a set of goals. Some years, classes soar, and other years, classes struggle. This is still typical. Teachers and students adjust to challenges and changes. They embrace technology, new curriculum, and new staff. Sometimes new students join the learning community and further adaptation is needed. The very nature of school is that change is a constant. That is our normal, and the resulting resiliency is amazing to watch. Adults could truly learn from children in this regard. Most of the missing out crowd are relying on their own experiences with education as a baseline for normal. One only needs to consider how much the world has changed to see the flaw in this thinking. Teaching is definitely a vocation that maintains when you know better, you do better. While my teachers competed with playing outside and Saturday cartoons, I wrestle my students attention from internet games and apps. Worksheets were all the rage when I was in school. Before the internet became so expansive, knowledge was a commodity. Rote memorization, reading books, researching in encyclopedia sets, and watching documentaries were valuable teaching tools. In this day and age where the sum of the world's knowledge is tucked in the book bags and pockets of nearly every student, HOW to use knowledge is the commodity we trade. Learning needs to address ways to find information and be a discriminating consumer of biased, raw knowledge. So yes, school looks different. Never has it been more important to get rid of the line of thinking that is based around "because that is how it has always been done" and realize normal is not a static value. Again, I circle back to the question blasted into my brain with the force of a bullhorn, what exactly are my students missing out on? The experience adults had as a student? Worksheets? The same learning that has become the status quo so many people bitch about? Closing the circle, I again have to say, I don't have time for what ifs. I can only focus on what we do have. You know what my kids aren't missing out on? Making meaningful connections with technology instead of anonymously hiding behind a screen. Problem solving skills as we look for new ways to accomplish goals. A sense of working together for a common goal as we implement safety measures together. Making memories. Learning. Playing. Laughing. And these, my friends are the MVPs of the school experience. So you can keep your missing out conversations away from my students. They don't need you to focus them on the what ifs. They are too busy focusing on the future they are creating and learning all the skills they need to shape it as they grow.
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Monday and Tuesday of last week was the culmination of a good portion of my work this school year. Our school is an International Baccalaureate candidate school. This means we have to collect evidence of our commitment to the implementation of the program and complete an authorization application. The final part of the application process is a visit from an IB trained team who scours records and your school in order to prepare a recommendation report to the IB. Early last week, I presented all of the collected evidence to an IB visitation team through a series of shared documents, videos, and Google Meets with school stakeholders. We will find out in about a month if we will be accepted as a World IB School. Although I was in many classrooms, the last lesson I took the team to observe was a teacher giving a math lesson in the forest. I was showing the team member how close we are to a park with a lake, and a deer walked through the forest in front of me. It was a moment he mentioned three times in our exit interview.
Professionally, it was an invaluable experience. As a classroom teacher, you rarely get to see the bigger picture of everything that is going on in the building. As the PYP Coordinator, I have had a better view. I already know that great things are happening just from seeing the homework planners, but to see so many teachers so excited about showing their lessons and classes was energising. The visit gave me direction for helping teachers in the years to come and showed me where our hard work is paying off. My passion has been teacher empowerment for years now. I believe that is something sorely lacking in education. It isn't a lack of professional development, it is a lack of impactful PD balanced with time for implementation. This year, my new staff needed to focus on bonding and learning the basics, so I attempted to balance meetings with practical work time and partnering where possible. The success is evident in many areas. I can tell the staff have formed close friendships and that they do not feel overwhelmed with the amount of tasks now. This gives us a fantastic leaping off point for next year that allows us to achieve goals together and take our teaching and lessons to another level of engagement. Although, I didn't have a chance to share my own class and teaching, I got to travel the school. Too often, we get stuck on our island and forget to invite people ashore or to row to distant shores ourselves. This visit forced me to do just that. I was inspired and astounded. I know teachers work hard, even under stress, to create magic environments, but some of their displays of student learning had me downright jealous. The process also required me to evaluate many of the working administrative pieces in the school. I was able to review policies and practices in depth through review and creation of a five year action plan. Sharing our school with the team also reassured me that I do understand not only the IB programmes, but the school and staff as well. It was easy to see that we really do have solid practices in place even if it seems hectic at times. The team was complimentary of all that we have accomplished in light of COVID restrictions. Lastly, the team shared with me that the school staff felt seen, heard, and supported by me in particular. They shared that the staff overwhelming felt like I understood their perspectives and tried my best to be respectful of their time and effort. I cried happy tears hearing that the staff felt this way about me. I strive daily to do just this. As I mentioned before, it will be around a month before we hear our final verdict, but the whole experience has my mind humming with possibilities. COVID has put some of my long term goals on hold as I use most of my energy to survive week to week changes in government restrictions, staff available, and typical teacher challenges. Eventually, I would like to obtain my terminal degree in education. I would love to explore positions in school that let me work more closely with the adults in the building as I truly do enjoy helping teachers reach their potential. I simply do not have the extra mental energy to pursue those right now. But this visit has sparked thinking. I wonder if I would be a good principal or if I should stick to coordinating. I wonder how much IB training I should explore. I wonder if now is the time to pursue my degree. I wonder about the possibility of joining an IB school visitation team. What a fantastically enormous experience when you work hard to achieve what, at the time, is the end goal and instead find yourself full of more possibilities and motivation than before. I still can't wait to see what I will be when I grow up. Really thought I published this one. yikes! Easter is another serious holiday in Norway. While I don't see the heavy religious tones in the holiday like in the states, you can rest assured that holidays are sacred in Norway. Let me clarify that last by saying, nothing in Norway is really in your face in the same manner as American traditions except the Norwegian arms at the dinner table. There are people that observe religious traditions around Easter, but Easter, much like Christmas, mostly means several days of the holiday, stores will be closed, and people will want to be with family. First of all, Easter holiday is long. Maudy Thursday, Long Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday are all days the stores are closed. The school is closed for the whole week before Easter as a scheduled break as well. The store schedule is vital to learn. Since I live within walking distance of the grocery store, I tend to keep very little food on hand except during these times. This year was special in that I got to participate in the hiding of the Easter eggs for the kids. Instead of an Easter basket like in the states, the kids get a large cardboard egg with treats inside. I ordered some Reeses and Pocky for them because I know the Bonus Kids like those treats. The egg is hidden and searched up scavenger hunt style. It was a lot of fun to watch them running through the house and yard deciphering the clues. NBF cooked a wonderful dinner of ham, whipped potatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and rolls. It was a delicious reminder of the kind of man I have in my life now. He also took some extra days off work so we could spend some time together. Well, that and no one really works over these long Norwegian holidays. I did convince him to start working on what he has begun to call the Captain Evil list and to compete in a work Goose Chase. We ended up having a lot of fun with that one. It has also been fun to explore what more typical day to day life would be like with NBF. I ended up getting sick the week before Easter break, and so many other staff were ill as well that we had to close the school and have home learning. So I have spent more than two weeks here. I still find it hard to carve out my own way, and I still really enjoy every minute. The thinking part of my brain knows what I need to be doing but the in love part of my heart steers me elsewhere. I think I can live with that though. All in all it was a relaxing holiday, and it left me recharged for the work ahead at school and ending the year strong. Next stop authorization. |
Nellie HillJust a woman leaping outside her comfort zone and telling the tale. Archives
April 2024
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