I started my Education degree thinking that teachers came to school ten minutes before class and spontaneously thought up a fun activity related to the topic of their choice. I thought those really well prepared experienced teachers might have made notes about what they came up with this time last year and rehashed what worked. I thought that when the bell rang the teacher would jump in their Camry and return home.
I understood that teachers needed to know their students and the content they teach and that was about it.
I was in for a shock over the course of my education degree but one I have come to be really impressed by.
The existence of a curriculum was the first big one, 'So there is actually a document we need to look at?
And there are strategies to teach this content!
How do we plan to fit it all in?
Is there enough hours in the year?
Oh integrating topics! That is smart! But wait what about...'
Assessment was the next, 'So we have to actually base our judgment of students understanding of this content on evidence?'
And then it got really crazy.
'This assessment doesn't necessarily have to be tests!
Photos, work samples, film, interviews and so on! We can use this data to inform our planning!
We can pinpoint students needs and even differentiate groups based on it!
We can benefit enormously by considering all this in collaboration with our peers!
All that is going to take time!'
The value of Professional Development came a little later. Then the realisation of the importance of connecting to the wider community.
I went from thinking I'd be rocking up at eight fifty winging the day full of lessons and doing the same thing year after year to realising the career path I had chosen requires a whole lot more. The hours planning, collaborating, considering assessment evidence, re-planning, continually perfecting your practice through professional development and the list goes on. The holidays are not even worth all of that!..... but knowing that you are becoming the best professional teacher you can be and knowing that putting in all those hours will ultimately impact on your students lives, even if it is in a minuscule way, is totally worth it!
Hi Jack, I have read this post with great interest. Sometimes it is necessary to 'wing it' but mostly it requires a lot of planning for each class, time for reflection on the learning and how classes went and a variety of assessment tools. The best planned classes and units of work are the most successful. I am impressed with the fact that you are a pre-service teacher and organizer of #ozedchat. The network that you build here will be very precious. It will support you, mentor you and I know you will share back. Keep up the great work.
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