Striving for it all

My last post to this blog may have oversimplified what is to come.

This afternoon I was updating my Linked-In profile, forgetting that my status there also gets posted to my Facebook account via Plaxo. This isn’t normally a problem as I don’t update my status on Linked-In very often. For me Linked-In is more of a professional network, whereas my Facebook account tends to be a more friendly mix of family, former students, former parents and teacher friends from over the years.

Imagine then my surprise when moments later I started getting those Facebook emails saying that comments had been posted in response to my status update.

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And there they were, a number of comments from teacher friends and former students cheering me on and saying how lucky the students were.

Truth be told, I am going back to the classroom.  I’m going back to a Multi-Age Cluster Class, a very specialized program for academically gifted students.  I’ve taught in it before and I know that I’ll love the work.  And yes, I’ll have a Smartboard in my classroom, and I’m very excited about that. After working with so much technology, especially with access to Smartboards during my stint at SFU, I can’t imagine not having tech tools to teach with.

The real issue here though is that over my last few years while I’ve been out of the classroom, I’ve moved the bar for what I expect from myself to a very high level because of all that I have learned from the really amazing teachers with whom I’ve had the privilege of working.

To name a few:

First there is Jen, a grade 4/5 teacher who writes so thoughtfully in her blog In Pursuit of Purpose.  Here is a teacher who thinks so deeply about what she is doing. She engages with children in the most honestly authentic, meaningful ways. For example,  her latest blog post, Imparting Values: Is it our job as Educators? states “I never would have guessed that any teachers could think that their teaching is disconnected with their values.  How is this possible?”   The depth and thoughtfulness of Jen’s writing is mindboggling and from her I’m learning a lot about how to enhance and deepen the classroom experience. Jen brings a global focus into her grade 4/5 classroom through her global thinking approach, bringing in statistics about literacy from around the world to work with in math, having her students learn about microlending through Kiva, and involving them in collaborative projects through My Hero and iEarn. Jen writes too about Problem based learning and how she struggles to help her students make connections from the exploring and playing stages, to really being able to articulate their discovery of concepts.

Then there is Sonya, a new young teacher whom I was introduced to initially through her rather brilliant electronic portfolio, something she’d made specifically for her Teacher Education program even though she barely knew how to use computers at the time. Even as a new teacher she was already being asked to present workshops for other, more seasoned teachers. What Sonya had to offer was a complete openness and willingness to find ways to use the technology that the students were coming to school with to enhance student learning in the classroom. While experienced teachers were busy banning cell phones and confiscating stray ipods, Sonya was inventing ways to get the same POD (personally owned devices) out of the students’ pockets and into the lessons. Dave Truss  has posted a series of YouTube  interview with Sonya. Here is the first:

And then there is Susan, a more experienced teacher-librarian in PoCo who lives and breathes peace education. From my time with Susan I’ve learned to listen to my own language. Do I encourage students to “take a shot at it” when encouraging them to give something a try, or  to “blow them away” with whatever leadership activity they are about to take on?   I’ve been amazed at how much the language of war is embedded in so much of even my own speech, let alone those around me.  Susan teaches full-time, is a mother and still has time to be the President of the British Columbia Peace and Global Educators (PAGE BC) and of War-Toys-To-Peace-Art. This summer she has been away in Africa with Teachers without Borders.

Cindy is another outstanding teacher who really lives by the environmental stance that she brings with her into the classroom. Her own interest in sustainable community gardening inspired her to have her grade 4 students get involved in a neighbourhood garden project. At the same time she was exploring the Mindfulness Education Program and specific forms of problem solving and collaboration which come out of the restorative justice work. Like Susan, Cindy lives by what she brings into the classroom.

I could go on and on, highlighting the teachers who are inspiring me to go back into the classroom with a renewed interest in educating for compassion, peace, justice, and sustainability.  I have watched so many such dedicated teachers pour their energy into making their classrooms be vibrant, fun, caring centers where the children are doing amazing things. I’ve seen creative and unique uses of technology that have sparked creativity and problem solving even in kindergarten children. Betty had her 5 year old students developing oral language skills as they performed and filmed their puppet shows.  Sharon had me invite one of her grade 7 students in to  demonstrate to 40 teachers in our “summer school” how he’d created an interactive white board out of a highlighter pen!  Later that fall this same 12 year old organized a workshop for 6 of the adults so we could each try making our own.  Yes, I’ve had the privilege of working with, Karen, Greg, Laura, Jen, Natalie, Kathleen, Demetra, Elaan, Clark, Rick, Carol, Phil, Eric, Sarah, Tim, Shannon, and many, many more (I’m sorry I’m leaving so many of you out!)  Each has their own stories of strengths that bring quality to the profession. I’ve learned so much from each one of the them. So my real dilemma now going back into the classroom is how to consolidate all that I’ve learned  both from my travels and from my work.

In the end my response to the comments on Facebook lays out the challenge I face:FB

Reflections on Fendler

Lynn Fendler writes and interesting article in Teacher Reflection in a Hall of Mirrors: Historical Influences and Political Reerberations, in Educational Researcher, Vol 32, No 3. 16-25.

In answer to Fendler we need to decide whether teachers are, or are not reflective by nature? And is all reflection equal? Are teachers, good teachers anyways, always reflective in their practice. Is all reflection productive? How do our students benefit from learning to be reflective?

I believe that yes, teaching makes one naturally reflective, but that reflection isn’t naturally productive. It is more about reflecting to survive because of the nature of schooling. Because teachers are isolated and so can’t check their reflection outside of themselves it may not be productive or help to produce better teaching practices. I believe that we learn by sharing our thoughts and by reviewing our thoughts. It is important to understand the connection between reflection and metacognition. Metacognition has two purposes (or classes, as research refers to it) Awareness of cognition and Control of cognition. Reflection ought to serve as a tool to help both develop awareness and learn strategies for control. Reviewing and sharing out thinking (our reflections) is a way of scaffolding our own learning about cognition, our own metacognition. It is a way of helping to locate and challenge our assumptions.