I have been teaching for 26 years and yes, I still love it. I received my M.Ed. 27 years ago and I have taught first through 6th grade, giving me exposure to how very different each subject, grade and child can be. I have taught in both public and private schools and my “teaching toolbox” has grown wider and deeper each year.
I sat in the teacher’s lounge the other day talking to a group
of newer teachers who were trying to find ideas for their next curricular piece. I asked if they had heard of different websites to
use for ideas and modeling. They had not. Surprised, I asked them what
resources they were given in their teacher prep programs that they could take
with them in their “virtual toolboxes” to use in the classroom. They looked at me,
puzzled.
“Well, I know about theory,” one said.
“I know how to use Google and look things up,” said the other.
I know that theory is important, and I see that learning about
Piaget and others has a place in teacher
prep. However, never in my 26 years of teaching did I ever say to a class, “Now
that’s odd the way you are acting, or the way you are stumped by that problem…Piaget
never said that would happen.”
What tools do our teachers have at their disposal upon leaving colleges
and universities and beginning their careers in their own classrooms? We are
lucky to be in this incredibly fast-moving, fast-growing tech world. But all
too often teachers aren’t taught how to access the best resources, aren’t given
concrete strategies that work in the classroom and aren’t taught how to connect
with other teachers for support and collaboration. “Surfing” the web isn’t
always the answer.
In my toolbox, I keep listening techniques, cooperative
learning activities and ways to manage a classroom. I also have different
instructional techniques at my fingertips so that I can make a lesson more
visual or add something to bring the “aha” effect, including strategies for
using technology (ipads, laptops, and Smartboards). New teachers might not have
all of this on-hand when they first begin their careers, but they shouldn’t
have to reinvent the wheel with every lesson.
There are so many opportunities to learn from other teachers in
your school, district, or elsewhere. Amazing websites, like Teaching Channel,
have short videos of teachers, just like me, teaching a lesson on a specific
subject. The site is easy to navigate, has a lesson planner and has been an
invaluable tool for me. Teachers Pay Teachers and Pinterest
have also enhanced my teaching. So many teachers are doing it right, and
new teachers should have resources like these at their fingertips.
We know that teaching today (and for the future) looks
completely different than it did in, say, 1930. Teachers need real world
strategies, current resources, and experience reaching out for advice to be
successful.
