So, I found this post tucked in draft mode on my dashboard. The title is even more fitting as it has been eight years since I wrote the original post! So much has happened / changed, and there’s no end of this learning journey in sight.
It’s been a month since I returned to work. My return has been great. As I stepped back into some of my regular routines, I stepped away from many of my classroom routines. During my recovery, I discovered Twitter, the idea of the flipped classroom, and project / passion based learning. With that discovery came a hunger and desire to re-invent myself as a teacher, thus April 1st marked the first day of my re-invented teaching style.
Now, suddenly, it’s May 1st! Where has the time gone? Two of my three classes are currently moving a bit slower than I had originally thought, but in each of them the kids are driving the learning. I would be lying if I said it’s been easy. I have been uncomfortable — a lot! For the first time since I was a rookie teacher I am completely out of control as the kids direct their learning, make choices based on interest and need, and I guide them instead of lead them. I hope it gets easier eventually as I, wait, WE figure it out together.
These growing pains and the discomfort has almost caused me to jump back into the comfort of my old “tried and true” lesson plans, but I made a promise to my kids and to myself and I will continue to fight to keep it.
The kids love the choice, but they have nine, ten or eleven years of classrooms where they’ve been told “how to do” school and suddenly I want them to leave most of that behind them and it’s hard and they aren’t used to this kind of hard. The thing I am struggling most to figure out is how to maintain the forward momentum for the kids. The “un-structure” (at least as it is currently unfolding in my classes), is uncomfortable for the kids too and that discomfort has encouraged some of the kids to slack off because the typical checks and measures aren’t there. Some of the other kids aren’t enjoying the experience because they aren’t sure what to do and my inexperience means I don’t have the answers or ways to build in meaningful checks … yet.
While the journey to change to become a student-driven / student-centred classroom has been and continues to be ‘messy’, it has definitely been rewarding. Kids are engaged because they are interested. Other teachers are noticing and they are asking questions about what we are doing and how it’s going. So, I haven’t got a huge following, but curiosity is a great start and I’ve got that from both groups!
technophyte 