MiddleView

Why do we teach?  A simple yet profound question.  I have been an administrator for about 3 years now, so I distinctly remember leading my own class.  I taught American History to juniors in high school.  Amazingly, this was before there was so much pressure to nail the standards.

When I was a high school student, I had no idea what I wanted to be, but I knew a teacher was out of the question.  History?  It was o.k., but it did not spark any love for learning.  This all changed my junior year of high school.  I had a wonderful teach, Ms. Hearn, who changed everything.

She created a love for history in me.  I am not sure I remember all of the details she taught us, but she taught me to love history.  I pursued this as an undergraduate.  To this day, I still love history.  My book shelves are split between history books and educational practice/leadership books.

When I was teaching American History, my goal was to spark this same kind of interest in history.  I knew my students would probably not remember much of the details as well.  I just wanted them to find it interesting, which would hopefully lead to a love of history.  I knew the standards and for the most part stuck to them.  I am not so sure this would fly today.  If this took place in a state tested subject, I KNOW it would not fly.  But I truly felt if I could create the interest it would lead to authentic learning.  Looking back, if I had to do it over again, I would focus more on the standards, as it IS the right thing to do.  However, I know I would find a way to create the same atmosphere of history is exciting, riveting, happy, sad, personal, etc…

I am not really sure where the focus of this post is going.  I guess I just want to shed light on one of the most crucial jobs of educators - focusing on the standards while making your class enjoyable.  Looking back, I never had many discipline problems in my class.  I was never really sure why.  I never yelled at the students and I was not always the “authority” of the room.  I also made a concerted effort each and every day to keep my class exciting.  We did all sorts of things–mock talk shows, living history demonstrations, you be the leader simulations, anything to keep the kids from dreading history class.

This can be translated to all subject areas.  If the kids are excited and interested, they will learn more.  The discipline issues will decrease dramatically.  You will not spend the hour forcing kids to wake up and pay attention.  Your focus on the standards will be much more authentic and real for the kids.  Isn’t that what it is all about?