Dawn Drysdale
Once Upon a Philosophy
"The older I got, the smarter my teachers became."
As a teacher, there is not one year that has gone by, in my years of teaching, in which I do not realize how clever my teachers were. To this day, I am still learning things from the people who touched my life in elementary, middle, and high school.
“[Kids] don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.”
Reflecting on my education brings to mind several of my favorite teachers; not all of whom would entertain but all who would make an impact. Some of these teachers make my list because they pushed me and wouldn’t allow me to give up and others inspired me by the way they held themselves; they were well respected, they were enthusiastic, and they never looked down on me because of my age, my appearance or what I believed. So just like those who inspired me, I strive to impart upon my students the ideas of professionalism, acceptance and enthusiasm; my professionalism shows my students how to act under pressure, my acceptance reminds them to keep an open mind and my enthusiasm, hopefully, inspires them to keep learning about what they are passionate about.
"Our children are only as brilliant as we allow them to be.”
I have always been a strong believer that all students are brilliant in their own way. With examples like Einstein and Mozart though, it is difficult to classify a plumber as brilliant in the same way. Yet the people who fix plumbing, or fix automobiles, or build buildings have a knowledge base which can be just as extensive and expansive as that of Einstein’s or Mozart’s. Allowing a student to be more than “book smart” presents them with a way to be brilliant in their own right. I consistently remind students that Jim Carrey had to drop out of high school to help support his family and that Steve Jobs dropped out of college, so they can embrace the idea that even brilliance isn’t perfect. I also remind them that college may not be for everyone, but that doesn't mean they aren't "smart"; making it through the Police Academy, an EMT or HVAC certification training class is just as demanding. I wholeheartedly agree with another brilliant person, George Lucas, who believes, “Everybody has talent, it's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is.”
“Never compare one student's test score to another's. Always measure...progress against...past performance”
In high school, I had an epiphany about grades; they did not accurately define who I was as a student. This painful, yet enlightening, discovery has remained with me and influenced the way I see I my students, their grades and their test scores. In the present environment of educational testing, it is easy to allow the data to overshadow the individual. I will be the first to admit, I use data often. It is one tool which assists me in measuring student understanding and comprehension as well as a way to gauge my student’s abilities and aptitudes. My data though is based on a vast array of summatives, each structured to play to a different learning type (kinesthetic, visual, social, solitary, etc.) and to offer an alternate way of demonstrating mastery. Standardized tests can tell me where a student is on ratio to others but it can not tell me who the student is and how much they have grown over a period of time, especially if the student is a struggler who is convinced, because of grades and scores, they will never be successful.
My epiphany has also influenced my approach to grading. By nature, I am not a competitive person. In fact, I avoid competition when at all possible; I find myself lacking when compared to others which becomes disheartening. Thus my classroom environment revolves around the idea of challenging yourself, not measuring yourself. Students regularly check their grades in my class as a way of reflecting on their progress. They record assignment scores as a way of identifying their gains and then reflect on that progress. If there was no gain, they analyze the assignments and record similar errors which assist them in identifying weaknesses, or misunderstanding. By increasing their metacognition, they begin measuring themselves against an earlier version of themselves rather than against other students.
“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.”
As a teacher, it’s important to remember that things change; curriculum, philosophies, students. This change is constant and in a classroom setting, that may sometimes mean the students know more than you. As a teacher, it can be uncomfortable admitting this, but by admitting, and submitting to this, it empowers the students. Which is exactly what happened with my Personal Narrative summative. Originally the project was a “book” students created about themselves outlining, in detail, where they have been, where they are and where they are headed. When the assignment transformed into a Photo Story, an on-line presentation program from Microsoft, it took on a new life. This life could have been restrictive had I mandated the students stay within my limited knowledge, but instead I chose to set guidelines and let them go. As they learned how to do things they taught me. I, in turn, taught other classes what I had learned and we continued to share new information throughout the assignment.
“The best way to learn is to do; the worst way to teach is to talk.”
I remembered then that most of what I remembered from high school I learned from trial and error and proceeded to adjust my teaching to reflect this understanding. Students respond positively to being the information providers not just the receptors. So in order to keep “allowing them to be brilliant”, my teaching now includes having them create guidelines and criteria, collect information and examples, and evaluate that information for veracity. Within the suspense unit, it is not unusual to see students posting examples of different methods of suspense onto Padlet, an on-line “cork board”, during one class then discussing and analyzing the examples in the next usually for clarification on something with little teacher involvement .
“Give them something they can't do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process.”
The Zone of Proximal Development consists of what a student can do, what they can't do and what they can do with assistance. The goal is to have students consistently operating in the "help" zone, so to give them an assignment they can't do is risky, but with a little mutual trust, and a lot of reassurance, students will be willing to try anything. Literary analysis, for example, is something students struggle with and that first literature analysis essay is usually abysmal. As the weeks progress, however, and we delve into "The Crucible" and look at it first from a literary, than a historical, and finally a biographical angle- with the ever present “So what?” follow up question looming behind every statement- they find they are digger deeper and making connections and thinking broader than they were when the unit began and the next literary analysis paper is stronger and more defined. Then it is on to the next unit where the cycle begins again.
“The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without a teacher.”
I may have majored in Education during my undergrad studies, but I didn’t head straight into teaching. Realizing I was too young and too inexperienced to teach people who were only a couple of years younger than I, out in to the corporate world I went. As my career progressed, I gained maturity and distance eventually ventured back into education. It wasn’t until I became a parent, though, that I realized what teaching actually encompassed. As a parent, I teach my child how to “do” things; hold a fork, tie a shoe, or deal with a bully. I model “best practices for humans” and show him the skills he needs; but I can’t hover, I have to step back and give him room to practice those skills and make mistakes; much easier said than done. This concept has conveyed itself into my classroom. I have gone from wanting my student to see how brilliant I am, to seeing how brilliant they are. Students may need me to provide them with the skills and information they need, but unless I allow them the room to practice with those skills, and to make mistakes, what they are taking out of my classroom will last no longer than summer break.
“The technology keeps moving forward, which makes it easier for the artists to tell their stories and paint the pictures they want.”
My years spent in the retail and corporate world helped me gain perspective on something else as well. I was lucky enough to be involved in the retail technology revolution with the introduction of bar code scanners and the beginning of computerized inventory. Being adept with technology allowed me to work in positions which were non-existent a year earlier and it allowed me to exercise an amount of creativity which was not accessible to all. That exclusivity may no longer be the case but, as the technology advances the tools and skills needed to navigate the technology are in greater demand. Teenager's social media skills are formidable, but ask them to create something else, and they flounder. Exposure to various types of technology and its platforms increases their knowledge base, so growing these skills, including the ability to be creative, means not only exposing them to, and using, technology in the classroom it also means strengthening the critical thinking skills necessary to discern whether information is viable or unfeasible. The vehicle for their learning is transitioning from print to digital, as should their education on the skills needed to venture through and utilize, the material.
"The dream begins, most of the time, with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you on to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth."
Teaching is not a matter of telling the students what you know, nor is it stagnant. It is a process where students are
tasked with identifying their weaknesses and the teacher not only provides information and assignments to correct misconceptions and build skills, but also assists them when they get stuck or run into difficulties doing assignments. The goal of teaching is to make yourself as the teacher dispensable, and to to be the safety net the student needs on their way in becoming more knowledgeable about more than just your subject matter.