by Krissy.Venosdale | Apr 30, 2013 | Reflect
You could be a master of teaching strategies. So organized you can find a pen, every time. Never miss a day of school. Have a beefy lesson plan book that’s filled up and fully differentiated. You could have all of that, and more. And still be missing something. Still miss knowing your kids. Beyond their names and score reports. After reading about a bill in Missouri that would tie teacher performance evaluation to test scores, I immediately thought about all of the people, outside of schools, who think they understand. But don’t.
Why is teaching more than a score? I know a teacher who left school during her planning time to get a student a special stuffed dog and sympathy card when his pet passed away. I know a teacher who paid $20 in her kids lunch fund so he could have a hot lunch. I know another teacher who visited a student in the hospital after she had surgery. I know a teacher who drove an hour to find enough tooth picks for her class to build bridges and test engineering plans. I could keep going. I know hundreds of stories about great teachers. People I’ve been lucky enough to call colleagues and friends. Stories that would make you smile and inspire you.
And stories that would make you forget about score reports.
I can tell you my students’ pets’ names, their siblings, their stories about home and family, their likes, dislikes, fears, hopes, and dreams. I know these things because I am their teacher. My number one goal is for my students to become everything they dream of, and if they have no dreams, my goal is to help them find one. Along the way, they learn. Facts and knowledge are woven together through character, connections, real life, and real learning. Problem solving, creativity, and thinking are the forefront. Life is real. Not a score.
But scores are what some will try to say makes a “Great Teacher.” Scores that people across the state, country, and in offices far away read and judge. Taking every personal connection from the profession. A profession that’s built on personal connections. Most of us can remember that “Great Teacher” we had as a child. A teacher we had a connection with us so strong that it has lasting effects ten, twenty, even forty years later. A teacher that changed our lives. A teacher who recognized his or her job was about far more than numbers.
by Krissy.Venosdale | Apr 30, 2013 | Reflect
I think those times when you think you have nothing to blog about, are the times that you most need to blog. Many people say, “I’d like to start a blog, but I don’t know what to write.” Well, just write. Write something. Anything. Think. Look back. Look forward. Take a moment. One tiny moment from your day and write about it.
Today? We opened the windows. It was great out. So, we went outside for a walk. The sun was shining. Kids were laughing. The flowers were blooming. We talked about the trees. We talked about our day. We listened to each other and played tag for a bit. It was ordinary. This dandelion? I picked it, held it up to the sun, took a pic with my phone while we walked. It’s nothing special. But, it is.
Our days are filled with hundreds of ordinary things that really are extraordinary when we take a closer look. Blogging makes you notice those things. It allows you to share them with others. Reflect. Take a second glance. Get a new perspective. Or give one. It’s not something you have to have time to do. It’s something that if you just make a little time to do, it will make the rest of your time even more meaningful.
by Krissy.Venosdale | Apr 28, 2013 | Reflect
I’ve taught lots of stuff over the years. But, when I look back, I can’t really remember any of it. It’s really a series of lessons tied together with the pages of a planbook, and scribbled in my favorite colorful Flair pens. What do I remember when I look back? All the things I’ve learned. I remember the kids who taught me that not every child has the picket fence life to go home to. I remember the child with a brain tumor who could barely see, yet continues to embrace life to the fullest, even today. I remember the moment I had my first class and realized that this captive audience was mine and they were excited to learn. I remember the day my class took their shoes off and we laid in the grass reading, but mostly just laughed. I remember the kid who seemed to have nobody in his life, who came to thank me for helping him talk with a scientist, and me realizing that he did in fact have someone…and it was me. I remember the kid who wrote a blog post about being inspired to change the world and sent it to me. The stuff I look back on? It lets me see everything so much clearer. When we look back, we get a view that is crystal clear. We’ll never really remember the tiny details in the things we teach, but we’ll always remember what we’ve learned from our kids.
by Krissy.Venosdale | Apr 26, 2013 | Reflect
There is one big reason to work in a school. Incredible things. You are surrounded with kids. Kids who haven’t lost their creative filters. Who still dream big, explore on a tangent, and push your thinking in a way that makes most adults uncomfortable. It’s been said “The creative adult is the child who survived.” (Ursula Le Guin) We need to make our classrooms something more than a place for kids’ creativity to survive. We need to foster it, encourage it, and embrace it. Because then? We’ll find the incredible things that inspire us.
