In response to Kelley Schotte:
Kelley, it is always so interesting to hear things from your elementary perspective. I am not sure I would have the patience to handle fights at this st/age, where children really are figuring out these social skills and how to deal with their emotions on such a very basic level. I am lucky at High School when I can cock my head to the side, look at them and just say, "Really?" Most of them realize instantly there is a much more adult like way to handle things. I guess the flip side of that is when they have a much more personal issue such as pregnancy or wrestling with coming out or even something milder (to me at this point) such as a girl/boyfriend breaking up with them that is when I would be there to model behavior such as compassion, or decision making. Oh my gosh, I totally just talked myself out of thinking HS level was easier! It is just different!
I wonder, do you think you accept others' or rebuff others' thoughts and opinions more? Sometimes I take into consideration another's beliefs so much, because I am in that mode lately of responding to my "customer's" needs, that I find it harder to find the path that is headed in the right direction (so to speak.) It is easier with school age students to stay on my own course. Is it the same with elementary kids? or do they take you on a journey through t heir minds' eye? I imagine that might be awfully fun!
In response to Katie Amos:
"Right now my 1st graders are working on murals for their zoo. So, I have half of them doing murals and the other half working with pattern blocks. Half way through we switch. I would love to incorporate another station, but it is a lot to manage. I know classroom teachers use centers quite often. I haven't used them much, because I'm unsure of myself and I only have them for 45 minutes. Do you have any suggestions on implementing more centers into my classroom? How can I model and explain all of them but still have time for the students to work?"
Katie, that is such a great question about centers...I was thinking about that myself. I wonder if you could observe another classroom teacher and pick his/her brain about how they go about setting up centers. That would be a lot to handle with materials. I wonder if there is a lot of repetition in the classroom centers so students get a chance to visit them often for directions and follow up. Hmmm...I am going to have to look into how they work at some of our schools. Thanks for the inspiration!
Reflections in response to my responses:
Seems like the elementary posts are really catching my eye this week. I wonder if it is because I am gearing up to start curriculum writing with my kindergarten music and art teams. I want to be able to meet them where they are and honor the differences in our practice. Yes, I am certified K - 12, and yes I have experiences in elementary, but they were so long ago and were not nearly the same as setting up and running my own class. Something else to be considered is that my point of view as a teacher when I had access to elementary was very different. I was just starting out and I hadn't solidified my practice. and in a funny way solidifying my practice was more about figuring out what I needed to be flexible about. I learned to sway like a tree in the wind so that I wouldn't break.
In response to Livey's post this week:
"On a plane ride home from NAEA in New York, my good buddy and amazing colleague, Whitney Carnahan developed what she has coined "The Templeton Theory". Templeton being the character from Charlotte's Web. In the story, Templeton is the rat that really enjoys his vacation to the carnival. He gathers all of the goodies that have been left behind and sings about his joy in the over abundance of goodies. Whitney was making a connection to feeling like Templeton after all that she had learned at the conference. She was overwhelmed and overfull of new and inspiring information. She started asking herself many reflective questions like, "Out of all the new stuff that I learned, which one's are right? Which ones are wrong? Which learning methods should I take with me and which ones will be best left in NYC? How am I supposed to know what to use? And WHY AM I SO OVERWHELMED AND STOKED ABOUT THIS THINKING AT THE SAME TIME?" She felt like Templeton, overwhelmed in ideas like he was overwhelmed by fair fare. She was having a difficult time sorting out what she saw and how to best use it. Then today I asked for her permission to share her theory and asked her to share a few words that would encapsulate how she now uses her Templeton Theory in developing her practice as an art teacher, she says, "(Reflective teachers) pick and choose what works for you and your students and what doesn't, There is no 'right' way. Just whats best for you and your students. We're all wired differently and therefore all have different teaching styles. There's a million different theories about teaching out there and we have to grab onto what we need and when we need it. And then, comp up with the perfect concoction for our classroom." I wish I had been as wise as she is when I was her age!! I had once thought that absolutely everything that I was told to do had to be implemented as prescribed and as soon as possible. However, she has found the key. To take all experiences and teachings and wonder-moments, and translate them through the lenses of the students, then artfully craft how to use them in such a way that will encourage all students to become the very knowing, kind, empathetic, and sincere people that they can become."
I love your colleague, Whitney's, Templeton theory. So true. And as it gets closer to conference and San Diego I will have to remember it all the better. I kind of see it also like allowing the ravioli to cook or some sort of science contraption (an old fashioned barometer, maybe?) where the ideas that resonate the most with me seem to bubble to the surface and stay lodged in the front of my brain where I can access them for what is needed.
"To get back to answering the question, I believe that some of the obstacles the arise are being called a "firebrand" or "too progressive" or any other quip that is directed at the person and is meant to be demeaning (but secretly we take them as a complement and evidence of our ability to teach and learn from a multitude of vantage points). When teachers attempt to claim that they have the right answer for their students and it is outside of the prescribed set of methodologies that the school board has approved, the teacher runs the risk of becoming an outsider or even possibly penalized for not following what is board mandated. Also, when the teacher attempts to defend what they believe is right for the way that they teach they are asked to provide research based seasonings why they had changed the paradigm or the methodology. I find, that to make change in an atmosphere where the solutions to most problems are proscribed, the only real obstacle becomes learning the "language" of those whom are scrutinizing your reasoning. You can't, and get away with it very often, say that I am "doing the right things for the right reasons" and everyone believe in your gut instinct. If you decide to look at why they are not, or may not be receptive to your ideas, the best thing to do is to ask Why? Why not? and upon what are you basing that decision, then research your booty off learning what they know through the lens in which they had learned that method. If you do this, you can greet your obstacles between you and what you feel is right, is to adopt the language, then use this language to support your reasoning. This is not subversive or manipulative if you inform them that you are willing to learn about their reasoning and then show them how it relates to your idea. In this era of accountability, I believe it is paramount for all instructors or practitioners in education to understand what it is that the other's expect them to do, and then ferret out why that way has been adopted by so many."
I find your comments as being labeled a firebrand and the struggle to follow our gut interesting too. I often think I feel a little off in my current surroundings because I am no longer surrounded by my art department but a mixed bag of different core subjects that are more analytical. I find I often have to justify what I am thinking and why it will work well for teachers. And I have to fine tune my language to fit their preconceived notions about what education is or is not, what instructional strategies we are using, but don't refer to by name, etc. I am sometimes called the "curriculum translator" by my teachers because they write what they do, and I help them craft the language so it will be understood and lauded by the Board instead of misunderstood. (oh the Fine Arts, what a different beast we are...) But it is exhausting to always have to explain yourself instead of celebrate yourself. To make room instead of being given room, or even earn the space. It is nice and sustaining to be recognized instead of feeling deflated because once again you were overlooked or misconstrued all due to a lack of acceptance of multiple ways of doing.
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