Pardon Me While I Teach: Snip It #6

Teaching is personalized. We all have our vision, of what great teaching and not so good teaching looks like. I know for me, I absolutely never want to be good, I want to be great. I want to enter my room and let loose. Try new things, never assign homework and put the majority, of the responsibility, in the hands, of my students. At the end of the day, they should be exhausted, not me. I buy so many books, on education, from Amazon, that my FED EX guy knows me, by name. Seriously, he rings the bell and as I open the door, he waves and says "Hello, Melissa, happy reading." I love to read new perspectives, because it only helps me, enhance my own. 

As the famous saying goes "No need to reinvent the wheel." Improve upon it yes. But, if the wheel is sound and well-structured and working, to its fullest potential, without incident, maybe we could not try, to add new spokes, or hubcaps, just for decoration. The latest fad, may have some aspects that would be beneficial and appreciated by some, but those same accoutrements, may be unnecessary and unsolicited by others. To force them, on the wheels that are spinning and gaining speed, might not be the wisest of choices. And, it is most certainly not advisable, to add them all at once. Then, well, they just gets muddled, dirty, in the muck, of the landscape.

I guess, this week has surprised me. The implementation of several new initiatives, just seems a bit overambitious and single-minded. Visit classrooms, observe best practice and see what individual enrichment or revision, may be warranted. Teaching is not a "one size, fits all" profession. It is a field where most educators, are seeking new ideas and development, on their own. They know what is best for their students. What may work flawlessly in one classroom, may fall flat in another. It is the teacher and the students, that form the perfect unit, where knowledge and innovation meet. Where curiosity and action flourish. Throwing in a speed bump, just for the sake of saying, our school is trying new things, can force stop, even the strongest of teachers.

Pardon me, while I teach. I will always seek new strategies and cultivate new permutations and advances- please, just let me decide which ones, will work best for my classroom.