Can you think of a time in school when you made a mistake? Was it a learning experience or just humiliating? The title of this blog may make some of you cringe, recalling some of your biggest mistakes in your own classroom experiences. Allowing for mistakes to be made is much different from how many of us were taught growing up.
Teaching is difficult. Excellent teaching is even harder. Building a strong connection with students, along with pedagogy, best practices…and sometimes a magic wand, is the foundation to any lasting teaching. During my first few years teaching, it bothered me that some students just didn’t seem to like me.
In most schools, the students take at least one standardized test teach year, if not more. One of the most frustrating aspects about standardized tests is that often students have a difficult time putting all of their brainpower into a test made by strangers a.k.a. Common Core gods or the state, however many times the scores are a measure of your performance as a teacher. How many times have you heard the question, “Does this count for our grade?” If you reply no, forget about any motivation. If you answer yes, you are flat out lying.
A teacher and I were casually talking about how our classes were going and she bravely mentioned that she hadn’t done as much critical thinking as she’d like with her students. It’s this type of honesty that allows teachers to grow.
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