It occurred to me recently that, at least for the past 25 years of my life, I never have looked at December 31st as the end of a year. My life revolves around school years. My New Year's Eve is really sometime in August every year. I usually even have a hard time remembering what happened in the first six or seven months of a calendar year because to me it happened "last year". Well, that and I am pretty sure I am losing my memory at the ripe old age of 30, but I digress...
I told you that to set this post up: this is not a "year in review" post, it is more like a semester in review. What follows are not my thoughts on 2013, they are my thoughts on the first half of 2013-14. It's basically a halftime pep talk to myself.
Master's Degree
After seven years of teaching, I finally decided to start my pursuit of a master's degree in August. For some people, this is probably a small thing, but for me it was kind of a big deal. It is something I have wanted to do for several years, but, due to some mistakes I've made as well as a healthy dose of indecision, I kept putting it on hold.
One reason I waited so long to start a program was I was unsure of what I wanted to be when I grow up. I know for sure I never can be a principal - I don't like having people mad at me all the time! Several people suggested I should go get my school counseling degree, which is something I considered in depth. However, I was never sold on that because I struggle leaving work problems at work and being a counselor would only exacerbate that problem. Then, in June I attended an iPad training (more on that in a bit) and realized the perfect career path for me: educational technology.
I enrolled in classes at MidAmerica Nazarene University and am now roughly a third of the way through my degree in technology-enhanced teaching. This has notonly benefited me, but also my students. I am learning new tools, projects, and strategies to use in the classroom with every course I complete. As crazy as it may sound, this was definitely the best decision of my year.
iPads
Last year (well, last school year) I was fortunate to be chosen as an iPad classroom through our district's PH Connect Me grant. My class received 15 iPads - enough for a 2:1 student to tablet ratio. This has revolutionized the way I teach. There was a bit of a learning curve at first, and I was nervous about putting such expensive technology in the hand of 8 and 9 year olds. However, the kids have done amazing work and have shown a high digital IQ in handling the devices. Mobile technology just may be the future of education and I am thrilled to have been part of it early on.
Integrating hand-held tech into my classroom has allowed me to become a more project-based teacher, which is something I have always wanted to be. The kids are learning, but sometimes they don't even realize it. They are becoming investigators, problem solvers, and creators. In fact, this new style of teaching brought about by receiving the iPads led to what is, so far, my single favorite night of my teaching career. I blogged about it back in September, and if you missed that post, you can check it out here.
New Classroom Management Style
As shocking as this may seem, I am not a perfect teacher. There are several aspects of teaching that I am not the best at. However, I have always been proud of my classroom management skills. This is going to sound conceited, I realize, but since becoming a more experienced teacher, I have consistently had well behaved classes. I always hear that I have good kids every year and this is equal parts truth and bothersome to me. It is truth because that is part of my management system: I do have good kids, but that is because I don't believe in "bad" kids. It is bothersome because the people I hear it from often make it sound like I am benefiting from luck of the draw, that I have nothing to do with their behavior...but I think I do.
My theory on classroom management has always been to set up a community or "family" feel in our room (partly by referring to it as "our room"). For years I have struggled to fit my theory into popular classroom management strategies - the latest fad seems to be the clip chart. Then I read a post at Miss Night's Marbles about why she doesn't use a clip chart. I decided to give it a try and it has been awesome. I really don't use any system of management. My class and I decided on four statements at the beginning of the year that we agreed represented what we believe a good class should be. Now, we do the right thing because it is just that: the right thing to do.
There have been bumps on the way, but getting rid of the clip chart has turned my classroom into a true community - more so than ever before. I realized this during our Winter Party. I am not much of a party planner, so the party was a pancake and sausage breakfast (prepared by a great set of parent volunteers) and a sing-a-long. That was all I planned for almost two hours: no crafts, no games, just breakfast and a sing-a-long (and a coloring page...). In the past, I have worried about keeping the kids entertained - it is after all the last day before winter break. This year, as breakfast was being served and devoured I looked around the room and saw the kids just relaxing and talking. No one was being left out of conversations. No one was acting inappropriately. It was just like a family sitting down to a holiday dinner. (Except for no one acting inappropriately-that happens at most family dinners, doesn't it?) I'm pretty sure this was the second greatest moment of my career, just behind the homecoming project.
Well...that was a long retrospective. I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're tired of reading! So, I will end here. I am planning a post looking ahead to the second semester in a few days, if you are interested watch for that.
Happy New Semester!
