Finding Courage to Continue

Most may notice that I have not made an entry on my blog in quite a long time. I started this as a required part of my Masters degree program and now I have decided to continue it. Prior to taking my courses on Web 2.0 literacy, I had never experimented with publishing my ideas on the web beyond social networking sites such as facebook. I now feel a little more confident in what I have to say and welcome feedback as I process my thoughts along this journey of teaching.

The onslaught we have felt here in the US against us as teachers has been to a great degree, almost unbearable. With demands to bring students to meet top performance standards measured by rigorous standardized tests, impatient parents who demand stellar grades, and recalcitrant, unmotivated students, some educators may forget why they chose this field in the first place. Yes, I have felt distraught to the point of losing sleep. But I always return after a great deal of internal deliberation, often seeking feedback from colleagues, refreshed and re-determined not to let my students down. I cannot give up on them. It is not that I believe that I am their hero in the night, but I believe in the cause of attempting to open their minds to the possibilities of what is possible.

A friend just recently reminded me after giving my errant answer to the question: what do you teach, answered, “ I teach Social Studies to ninth, tenth, and twelfth graders. I was told that my answer should have been, “I teach ninth, tenth, and twelfth grade students Social Studies (I did not argue by reminding him that he asked “what” and not “whom”). He reminded me that my primary focus of my teaching should be the students and not necessarily the content. I have no problem with that. My thoughts exactly! The question is when.
My main struggle this semester has meet that of motivating students. I believe that time spent at the beginning of the school year getting to know our student’s learning profiles and styles will help tremendously by informing how we teach. The data need cannot always be “hard” and “measurable.” We are teaching humans not inanimate objects without feelings. The spectrum of variables with which teachers face in the classroom certainly makes instruction less seamless than if each child was an automaton. So where do we go from here? The four-day school week? The extended day? Integrated learners? What is more clear now than ever is that we are asking the same questions that were asked forty years ago. What will be the answers?