“Every student, everyday, no matter what,” we had an instructional coach join my district’s staff this year, and this was the quote she opened the year up with. I have found this quote easier to achieve since I have started my graduate course. I work in a low income school district and with that many barriers are thrown not only my way, but my students way. We talk about low test scores, and low parental involvement, and how that affects our students, but lately I have gone back to a TED talk from Linda Cliatt-Wayman, and her second slogan, “So what, now what?” If we feed into these barriers we are in turn holding our students back from the start. As an educator I make it my one goal everyday to hold my student’s to higher expectations instead of holding them back. In CEP 812 I have been inspired by Warren Berger’s, “ A More Beautiful Question,” and the anecdotes he uses to portray his point. In his 5th chapter I really was drawn to the story of Jacqueline Novogratz. She is a banker who works for Chase overseas. She notices that loans for young entrepreneurs with creative ideas are being denied do to lack of financial credentials. This made me immediately think of my students, so often because of their backgrounds, some teachers may think that they are not worth the extra time. That their creativity, and ideas may not amount to much, or they may never leave our small town. They are a product of their gene pool, and the apple rarely falls far from the tree. Our fearless leader of a principal constantly reminds us, that our DNA is not our destiny, and I couldn’t agree more.
In reflecting on how I make a difference I think to two recent compliments I have received. One from a former student who did not say it directly to me, but said as he was passing my classroom. He is a student I had a few years ago and I would call it my worst year I have had yet, with several challenging students. As he passed my room, he said to his Mom, now that teacher, she is just the greatest teacher, I wish I could have her every year. I was surprised to hear this from this particular student. His year with me was challenging but after reflecting I also remembered by the end of the year I knew his whole family, and that when he grew up he wanted to build the tallest building. With what he said in that moment I knew I had made a difference. The second was from my principal, who said as we wrapped up our meeting, that I knew my students in detail so well. I think the first step in being a successful teacher is knowing your students, the second step is engaging them, and the third is believing in them.
We live in a world that is constantly changing and I think that the system that is changing the slowest, is the education system. Thankfully, I have noticed that the younger teachers coming into the profession are geared for a change. They are geared with the knowledge to integrate technology effectively. They know that, “The winners won’t just be those with more I.Q. It will also be those with more P.Q. (passion quotient) and C.Q. (curiosity quotient).” (Friedman, 2013) We live in a world where innovation is in the driving seat, and if we don’t teach passion and curiosity we are doing a disservice to our students. If we continue to drill and kill our students with facts rather than have them engage in discovery our world will eventually come to a stand still. It’s time we as teachers take risks, and invest in our students creativity. Learning may look messy, and it may take time but the results will be an engaging education for all. We will be able to reach “every student, everyday, no matter what. Below I have put together a Prezi which outlines my beliefs as a teacher when thinking about passion, curiosity, and failure in learning.
If the Prezi cannot be accessed click here.
References:
(2015, June 05). Linda Cliatt-Wayman: How to fix a broken school? Lead fearlessly, love hard. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe2nlti47kA&t=4s
Friedman, T. L. (2013, January 29). Opinion | It’s the P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as the I.Q. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/opinion/friedman-its-pq-and-cq-as-much-as-iq.html
Berger, W. (2016). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. Bloomsbury.
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