teaching is like going on a road trip - kassia dearing
Post on 26-May-2015
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Teaching is like going on a road trip…
By: Kassia Dearing
Before you start on your road trip you must ensure that everyone is buckled up and safe. Much like a seatbelt, students need to feel safe within a classroom and trust that the teacher has their best interests at heart. Creating a inclusive classroom environment where everyone feels safe will ensure that all travellers will have a great trip this year.
BUCKLE UP
Taking a road trip, much like being a teacher, starts by planning with the end goal in mind. Where do I want to go? What do I want to see? Teachers must also take into account what steps along the way will help them get to their ‘destination’ effectively. It is important to remember that it is not just the end goal that matters, but it is the meaningful learning experiences the students have along the way. No two trips are the same and it is the experiences you gain along the way that make a trip memorable.
PICKING A DESTINATION
START HERE
Rest stops are places where people stop to take a breath and relax. Teaching, at times, can take a teacher out of their comfort zone and challenge them to try something new. Teachers must remain flexible and adaptable to be able to handle the array of situations that may come their way. This means that travellers also need a break from riding in the car and do something different. Using novelty and variety within your classroom will keep your students on their toes.
REST STOPS
When going on a road trip packing can seem like a daunting task. There are so many different shapes and sizes of suitcases you must fit into your car. Every suitcase is different and comes with a very different story of where they have been. Much like suitcases, no two students are a like. We must provide a classroom where diversity and inclusion of our students is at the forefront. Ensuring that we differentiate for the needs of all of a learners is a challenge but it is worthwhile when you receive the satisfaction of a well packed car.
PACKING UP YOUR CAR
USING YOUR MAP
A map is meant to help guide you towards your destination. Your route is never set in stone and don’t be afraid to let your companion chose the next route of travel. Working as a team, you will arrive at your destination safely, and it will be a memorable trip for you both.
WEATHER Whether it is a rainy day or a sunny day, the road trip must carry on. Just like the weather outside may change our outlook on the trip, our own personal emotions can change the weather in our classroom. We as teachers, must remember that we are the weather we bring into our classroom and if we want a positive classroom environment we need to create it for ourselves.
It is easy to keep your foot on the gas and work to get to the des4na4on as quickly as possible, but you must always remember to STOP and enjoy yourself. It is not always about ge=ng there the quickest, it is about taking the 4me to enjoy the li>le things along the way that makes a trip memorable.
As a teacher, you must take -me to celebrate the accomplishments of your students along the way and value the learning experience as much as the end result. This is why I believe forma4ve assessment is the key to the students working towards a deeper level of understanding and increasing their mo4va4on to learn.
STOP LIGHT
ROAD BLOCK
A ROAD BLOCK symbolizes the unexpected situations that can arise in teaching. No matter how much planning and preparation you have done for your trip you cannot predict that a road block is coming. A teacher must be able to adapt to unexpected situations and be able to come up with solutions that have a positive impact on student behaviour. Remaining calm in stressful situations is important because we should model the behaviours we wish to see in the classroom.
As the trip gets underway make sure to stop and FUEL UP before your tank is empty. The last thing you want to happen is to be in the middle of nowhere, with no cellphone reception and an empty tank of gas.
This relates to teaching because a teacher must make sure that they do not spread themselves too thin and cause themselves to burnout. If a teacher tries to do too much, other areas of their teaching will suffer. Getting to know our students and building relationships with them allows us to fill our teaching gas tank. We need to have a balance in our lives to ensure that we are giving the best of ourselves to our students, because they deserve it!
FUELING UP
You must look back at where you came from to know exactly where you need to go in the future. I believe that self-reflection is an important aspect of being a teacher. We as teachers should take our experiences that we have had throughout the year and reflect upon what went well and what did not go as well, to improve upon ourselves for the next year. Trials and tribulations that we experience in our teaching career make us grow as individuals and reaching our end goal makes it all worthwhile.
CHECKING YOUR REARVIEW MIRROR
ENJOYING THE COMPANY Take time to get to know your travel companions and build relationships. We must build a strong foundation with our students to ensure success throughout the year. The more you connect with your students the easier it will be to get them to buy into what you are saying. Take time aside from curricular outcomes and get to know your students for who they are.
Just like mountains, there are UPS AND DOWNS in the profession of teaching. Teachers have their good days and their bad days, some lessons work and others do not, but it is how we persevere through these situations that is important when teaching. These steep climbs can burn a lot of fuel out of our teaching tanks but remember that you are working towards reaching your destination and that reward will be enough to fill our tanks back up to full. Always remember why you chose this profession, to make a difference in kids lives and that should be enough fuel to get your car up any mountains you may face.
MOUNTAINS
“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the
responsibility for changing them.” -Denis Waitley
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