Don’t you love change? Come on…be honest! Some love it and some don’t but whichever describes you, change is necessary for living growth. The month of July is a perfect time to consider changes. For some teachers, you are enjoying your summer months and hopefully have set aside time for reflection. For teachers in the Southern Hemisphere, you are in the middle of your school year; this is a great time to evaluate what is working and what is not working. So, here are some practical changes you ought to consider:
Reorganize and reorder
Teaching subjects in isolation (a distinguished time for math, history, language arts, etc) has been done for generations. Research supports teaching with integration. Create an overview of the year by listing each subject (and its particular focuses) and when it is to be taught (according to your curriculum guide). Get the big picture. Now with a little tweaking, start blending and integrating. Draw lines to connect complementary themes.
Revise, refine and redesign
Revise, refine and redesign your assignments and projects to fit your overview. Ideas will probably flood into your mind when you see how your subjects could be integrated. Create connections between the subjects you teach and then create major units in which specific skills (from each discipline) are taught. The more authentic your assignments (solving real problems) the more engaging for students. You will quickly see your role as a teacher changing as well. You take on more of a coach role. It’s like you buying the groceries and the students preparing the meal.
Rework and remodel
This is an ongoing process. But, one of the things you can do now is create assessments or checkpoints to help you gauge how things are going. Your assessments should confirm students learning.
Teaching and learning cannot stagnant and alive at the same time!
By the way, the antonym for change is stay the same. Think about that!
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This is a wonderful new layout Dean. I look forward to the many and interesting discussions around education.
Mahalo Steve! Rosa and Jesse get all the credit. I trust what is posted will be meaningful and useful for you!
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