I have always been a bit of a rebel. So when people challenge me, I usually "fall" for it, as I constantly like a challenge to push me that bit further towards EXCELLENCE. That is why I signed up for the Digitally Fluency course last term, after watching this video, thinking I need something more than just google classroom for my teaching practice. Something that will make my life easier and also make my students' life easier....
So what is EXCELLENCE in teaching then?
"You can not change the hand you are dealt , but you can change how you play the hand." As teachers, our hand, are the students and we need to change the way that we "play our hand". I am sure that all of us teachers, have walked away, after a lesson with the feeling: "aaaaw this did not work, this did not turn out the way I anticipated"...that is when we need to change the way that we play our hand. Working with a new hand daily or sometimes per period, as different students have different learning needs, we need to UP or game, and be on TOP of the changing needs in front of us.
So to answer the question: What is excellence in teaching then? According to me: It is the adaptability of the teacher and to change your teaching style, to suit the "hand" in front of you...I hope this makes SENSE?? (off course ALL the other important stuff, like knowing your topic, and all the other things need to be in place...I am just talking IN CLASS, the "how" )
An example of this is:
I have given my seniors a choice about their mathematical learning pathway forward, from the start of this term. I've put up on my website: 4 different topics. They had to watch a few videos at the start, had to work through the slideshow, and had to look at the assessment, and then had to make an informed decision about their path forward. I've put all of this up on our class site, and they go on at their own pace. This has freed me up, to support them individually, some great learning conversations are happening not only with me, but also with each other. Some of them, still need me to be their on the white board, every now and then, and then we move out of the computer room to the class, but mostly the "machine" is humming away smoothly, with them driving their own learning, and me putting up the work at night. If they miss a day or two, they just continue where they were before they missed school. I've made videos of myself talking through the slide shows, doing the homework, and they love being responsible for their own learning. They can rewind their learning, and at their own pace. They can listen to me doing the same lesson over and over, if they want to. At this stage, it means I am working much harder , as I have 8 topics (4 year 12 and 4 year 13 topics) to do each night, but I know once everything is in place I can just make minor tweaks next year. I've also added teaching videos of other teaching explaining the same work, and different methods explaining the same work.
It is so cool to see them working so hard, and taking responsibility for their own learning in stead of me doing it all on the white board, or by their desks and them copying. Today in class, I had the year 12's in the last period, I took them to class and tested them with a few algebra questions on the white board that we worked through together as a group. It was the BEST feeling ever when one of the boys started RAPPING...'top stays top, outside goes bottom"...the rap that I use for explaining the rule in algebra when there is a surd (he watched a video of me doing the rap on our class site)...that showed me that this method works for them...I've changed the way that I played the hand, and for today: I can go home, exhausted BUT happy!
yay!! I love my job (even after 33 years)
