Have you been reading along with me? Whether you have or not this post will be right up your alley I think.
This week we read chapter 2 - concerns about student-led classrooms and I will be the first to say I am sometimes that teacher who has the concerns about change. I will also say that once I have some time to process the changes (and see the reasons for the change and anticipate the outcomes) I usually change my tune and JUMP on board full force. So, adding these concerns to the beginning of the book - before I could come up with them on my own was genius!!
There were many concerns that were brought up, but two really spoke to me...
"I am too overwhelmed. I don't know where to begin!"
Overwhelmed is my middle name right now! Between a baby arriving in 10 (EEK!) weeks, a 5 year old beginning summer break full of energy, 10 more teaching days, end-of-year chaos, etc, etc, etc! It would be SUPER easy for me to say I can't add this on top of it all! But, upon further reading the benefits truly do outweigh the negatives. Plus, we need to start small - talking with the class about the direction they would like to see things go or allowing them to interrupt and run the discussions - both can be great places to start!
"My students can do this."
I teach first grade, so some of the ideas I read about in PD books are tricky to adapt to such littles, but the book has some great ideas for the littles too!
The book reminds us to start small - giving kids jobs to do and then adding in responsibilities. Students need to learn to take ownership of their learning!!
Now that we have gotten the naysaying out of our system - are you ready for next week? We will be reading chapter #3 - Peer Collaboration! Hop onboard!
Hi Abbey! One thing I'm learning from reading everyone's blog posts about "Learn Like a PIRATE" is how honest everyone is about their flaws! I, too, am EXACTLY like you when it comes to change! I'm going to doubt that it's better than what I'm already doing, but continue to investigate it. If I realize there is something to be gained by making the change, then I do it and stop whining about it! Thanks for posting your honest thoughts and reflections, and I look forward to reading next week's post!!! :)
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