Too Many Choices
It is now March, which means the school year is 3/4 over (approximately) and the list of things I hoped to do this year is still long.
Of course, spring time means standardizing testing time, with a writing test fast approaching on April 10, and the math and reading tests coming in mid May. We are teaching all our regular curriculum, plus squeezing in writing intervention groups and math intervention groups.
After that there's just two weeks left in our school year. Some years, I bellyached how early the tests were, how was I supposed to teach the year's curriculum with a full six weeks left in the year? This year I am wondering how I can squeeze all the "fun" stuff into the last two weeks of the year.
In addition to covering the state standards, equally important for the students to learn are the untested skills.
Independence
Self-motivation
Follow through
Digital Citizenship (especially with research)
Collaboration
Problem Solving
Creativity
Empathy
Kindness
No matter what career path my students may take, whether it be Electrician, Handyman, Chef, Doctor, Nurse, Teacher, Programmer, or Tree Trimmer, all of those traits are more important than whether or not they can multiply and divide fractions or how to read/create a stem and leaf plot. My job is to prepare them in the non-tested skills just as much as the tested skills. How do I manage to fit everything in?
It comes down to making hard choices and not doing all the design thinking/creative/programming choices available to me.
I think these next nine weeks are a bit like walking down the cereal aisle of the grocery store. There's the stuff you know you don't need, it's not necessary or healthy, but y'all, Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. That's saved for special occasions. Because while it is filled with yumminess (and sugar and preservatives and artificial coloring), it also has some nutritional value, just not for all the time. This is the cereal you eat on a birthday or to celebrate the first day of Spring Break or summer. In the classroom, this would free time with robotics (in the remote control mode versus the programming mode) or drawing. There are obvious benefits, they feed the soul in some way and engage students, however, this isn't a constant diet.
Then you have the Shredded Wheat. Did you know they still make that? Not the cute frosted little squares (now in Chocolate! or Blueberry!), but the large, only wheat bricks. I coat these with peanut butter to make them more palatable while I am getting large amounts of my recommended fiber for the day. However, I can't fathom eating these every morning, even with the added peanut butter. I see this as the testing prep and intervention groups. They are necessary, but sometimes kinda bland with adding a little something to it (or a lot of something). I try to make this spiraling and review as fun and interactive as possible. It is necessary. I have a hard time remembering what I learned one month ago, much less way back in August/September professional development days-why wouldn't the students the as well?
It's that cereal section between the Peanut Butter Captain Crunch and Shredded Wheat I struggle with. Do I get Crispix, Special K, or Honey Nut Cheerios? They all offer something unique. All of them are about equally healthy once you start comparing nutrition labels. Do I do my unit on landforms, which will take me about two months behind where I am supposed to be, because it teaches all of those skills listed above or do I do Lego Robotics, which won't allow my students to follow their interests, because it also does the above? Do I sacrifice the extra time I have built in to accommodate my different learners to finish work or work on a Genius Hour project so I squeeze one more thing in? How do my kids spend their time in Math Stations? How can I fit in more creativity and real world problem solving? How can they work together so they are learning empathy? How do I educate the whole child?
What I have realized this spring is that I can't do everything. There are some really good things I just may not get to. I am working on letting go of that guilt. We can't do everything. I am realizing if my guilt is related to not doing what another adult (a peer) thinks I should do, it is probably something good to let go of. I am not there to teach another adult's agenda.
My teaching should reflect the individual needs of my classroom, our school's vision, and the state standards. Maybe I don't get to something this year, because I am focused on other, equally valuable things. That's ok. Next year, I can add something else, take something away. I can't do it all, and to expect myself to is unfair to me and my students. My next year to do list is getting long, but that's ok. I know I don't have to do it all next year either.
Of course, spring time means standardizing testing time, with a writing test fast approaching on April 10, and the math and reading tests coming in mid May. We are teaching all our regular curriculum, plus squeezing in writing intervention groups and math intervention groups.
After that there's just two weeks left in our school year. Some years, I bellyached how early the tests were, how was I supposed to teach the year's curriculum with a full six weeks left in the year? This year I am wondering how I can squeeze all the "fun" stuff into the last two weeks of the year.
In addition to covering the state standards, equally important for the students to learn are the untested skills.Independence
Self-motivation
Follow through
Digital Citizenship (especially with research)
Collaboration
Problem Solving
Creativity
Empathy
Kindness
No matter what career path my students may take, whether it be Electrician, Handyman, Chef, Doctor, Nurse, Teacher, Programmer, or Tree Trimmer, all of those traits are more important than whether or not they can multiply and divide fractions or how to read/create a stem and leaf plot. My job is to prepare them in the non-tested skills just as much as the tested skills. How do I manage to fit everything in?
It comes down to making hard choices and not doing all the design thinking/creative/programming choices available to me.
I think these next nine weeks are a bit like walking down the cereal aisle of the grocery store. There's the stuff you know you don't need, it's not necessary or healthy, but y'all, Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. That's saved for special occasions. Because while it is filled with yumminess (and sugar and preservatives and artificial coloring), it also has some nutritional value, just not for all the time. This is the cereal you eat on a birthday or to celebrate the first day of Spring Break or summer. In the classroom, this would free time with robotics (in the remote control mode versus the programming mode) or drawing. There are obvious benefits, they feed the soul in some way and engage students, however, this isn't a constant diet.
Then you have the Shredded Wheat. Did you know they still make that? Not the cute frosted little squares (now in Chocolate! or Blueberry!), but the large, only wheat bricks. I coat these with peanut butter to make them more palatable while I am getting large amounts of my recommended fiber for the day. However, I can't fathom eating these every morning, even with the added peanut butter. I see this as the testing prep and intervention groups. They are necessary, but sometimes kinda bland with adding a little something to it (or a lot of something). I try to make this spiraling and review as fun and interactive as possible. It is necessary. I have a hard time remembering what I learned one month ago, much less way back in August/September professional development days-why wouldn't the students the as well?
It's that cereal section between the Peanut Butter Captain Crunch and Shredded Wheat I struggle with. Do I get Crispix, Special K, or Honey Nut Cheerios? They all offer something unique. All of them are about equally healthy once you start comparing nutrition labels. Do I do my unit on landforms, which will take me about two months behind where I am supposed to be, because it teaches all of those skills listed above or do I do Lego Robotics, which won't allow my students to follow their interests, because it also does the above? Do I sacrifice the extra time I have built in to accommodate my different learners to finish work or work on a Genius Hour project so I squeeze one more thing in? How do my kids spend their time in Math Stations? How can I fit in more creativity and real world problem solving? How can they work together so they are learning empathy? How do I educate the whole child?
What I have realized this spring is that I can't do everything. There are some really good things I just may not get to. I am working on letting go of that guilt. We can't do everything. I am realizing if my guilt is related to not doing what another adult (a peer) thinks I should do, it is probably something good to let go of. I am not there to teach another adult's agenda.
My teaching should reflect the individual needs of my classroom, our school's vision, and the state standards. Maybe I don't get to something this year, because I am focused on other, equally valuable things. That's ok. Next year, I can add something else, take something away. I can't do it all, and to expect myself to is unfair to me and my students. My next year to do list is getting long, but that's ok. I know I don't have to do it all next year either.
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