Why I #loveteaching

There's been a campaign that has taken off asking teachers to share why they #loveteaching this week (February 8th-14th) in honor of Valentine's day.

With the craziness that surrounds our everyday life, it is easy to get lost and forget why we started down this crazy path in the first place. We get so caught up in meetings, lessons, family and day to day demands that we forget to stop and admire the amazing things happening around us. So as I am sitting here, drained, after 2 straight weeks of being sick this couldn't have come at a better time.

So here it is. Why I #love teaching.

I #loveteaching because of the relationships.  Each learner is a unique puzzle and it is up to me to figure out how to connect with them. That's a big responsibility! Having to decipher and take into account interests, dislikes, home life of 50 kids is a lot to take on. When I think back to my favorite moments throughout my teaching career, the moments you can remember every detail and word spoken, it's not a learner who understood how to do multi-digit multiplication that comes to mind. Although it's great when they do! Each of my most memorable experiences as a teacher has been when I finally broke through a wall and saw the trust and safety we have the potential to provide to someone. For some kids we're the one person they trust. The one who makes them feel safe. The only one who BELIEVES in them even when they don't believe in themselves. How many occupations out there give you the opportunity to change someone's life? How cool is that?? Now I am not necessarily talking saving everyone Coach Carter style, but we as teachers have the potential to influence each student in our classroom. The influence can be small in just being someone they can joke around with, or huge and change the way they view themselves as human beings. For some kids, we're their last stop. We are the person who can guide them down the path that will lead to their success and unleash their potential.

So as we draw near the end of what many educators believe is the longest month of the school year, I encourage you to take a step back. Why did you decide to become a teacher in the first place? Why do YOU #loveteaching?

Personalized Learning Parent Night!

This month our school hosted a personalized learning night for all of our parents. Families were invited in to experience and learn all about personalized learning. After the families had visited their classrooms, they were able to "personalize" their own ice cream sundae! (It was delicious)

This was the first time Lincoln Elementary had hosted this type of event. The format was an open house. Learners could bring their families in at any point throughout the night. As our focus in the classroom is to have the learners be responsible for themselves it seemed only fitting to have that be the case when their families came. When a learner came through the door, they grabbed a Must/May Do sheet from the entryway table which followed a similar format to the Must/May Dos the kiddos do throughout the week. From here they were in the driver's seat. They lead their families through their personal websites, goals, creations, and watch a video on a "day in Team EPIC!" Learner's also had the option to visit our yoga wall and share their favorite pose as well as take a family portrait in our "photo booth."

One of my favorite things to come from the night was our parent survey. With the personalized learning and multi-age classrooms still being new to so many of our learner's families, we wanted to gain feedback and insight from parents on how they see the changes affecting their kiddo. We wanted this to be a time for them to share amazing things they see as well as concerns. Here are some of the many positive responses:

• "He seems to be more engaged in his learning. He does well when he can be more creative in his learning."
• "She feels good about being able to work at her own pace."
• "Excellent! Just hopeful the school district sees the value and expands it district wide."
• "Learning how to balance his work load. He is more mindful of his time and is very proud when he completes everything for the week!"
• "The kids seem to like school more."
• "He doesn't complain about going to school like he has in the past."
• "She has a little more confidence in herself. I also like the fact that in the class there is more opportunity for her to learn if she asks questions she can ask a teacher or another student."
• "I think it is important to allow kids to learn at their own pace. This program seems to favor the individual paces."

There were only a few concerns parents shared with us, and the questions and concerns they had were amazing! A lot of the questions were management pieces that Alli and I have been playing with all year. How do you manage all the goals? How do you keep kids on track and make sure they all are progressing? How do you help those who are not intrinsically motivated? All questions that we as teachers are still working through too!