Saturday, October 16, 2010

thirteen - teach like a champion?


Education in the United States has suddenly become a hotter topic than usual in recent weeks.  With the premiers of Waiting for Superman and Teach: Tony Danza, it seems that everyone is buzzing about teachers. 

During a recent professional development workshop that I attended, Steve Clem from AISNE said that teachers make 600 teaching decisions every day.  We are constantly reassessing and evaluating what we do, how we do it, and how we can do it better.  And, we don't always get to asses our teaching before or after the fact.  We are usually assessing and making adjustments minute by minute as we teach.  We need to adjust based on the vibe in the classroom, what time of day it is, how hard or easy the previous night's homework turned out to be, how the latest quiz or test went, the questions students ask, the questions students don't ask, how well or poorly the students are participating, and an endless number of other factors.  Teachers need to have the ability to walk into a room and instantly gauge what is going on.  To say that it can be challenging is an understatement.  And, it's something that in my seventh year as a teacher, I am still working on. 

"This is not an easy job.  You know, there are so many people out there who think they can do this.  And that's unfortunate.  You know, people believe they can wake up and say, 'Oh, I think I'll teach today.'" - Linda Carroll, Principal of Northeast High School in Philadelphia

Now, I would never pretend to understand the various trials and tribulations specific to an inner city public school teacher, for example, but do I understand what it is like to be a teacher at any school.  It is exhilarating and humbling and fulfilling and exhausting and the best job I could ever imagine having all at once.  It is also daunting.  We, as teachers, are charged with educating children.  Think about that for a second.  We are charged with helping youth not only learn the academic subjects that we teach, but also teaching them skills that enable them to learn for a lifetime, helping them to be engaged and productive members of their communities, and being their for them as a support system in many ways.  This is an awesome responsibility.  Mr. Clem also said during that workshop, "We have a moral obligation to get better at what we do because we work with children."  A moral obligation.  When it's described this way, the task of teaching children seems scary, even.  As Ms. Carroll also said, "This is serious work…You don't get the tag of teacher until your students are learning."

But this serious work - this awesome responsibility - is something that I wouldn't trade for the world. 

2 comments:

  1. Coming from a family of educators, I couldn't agree more. Keep up the good and holy work!

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  2. Amy, I am so proud of you. You are a strong, smart, funny and passionate woman. Love you! Sharon

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