Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Schools that Learn

Reading the first few pages of Classroom was like a trip down memory lane. When I was a student, I always loved the new box of crayons, perfectly sharpened pencils and the assignment planner that had blank, crisp untouched pages, at the beginning of the school year. Even though I don’t have my own classroom yet, I look forward to the day where I am in the classroom that I helped create with new rulers, pencils, posters and a warm welcome. What the students bring into the environment will be the exciting part. Together we will create a space where learning occurs, learning that may be different for everyone. Sure there will be a curriculum that I’ll have to follow and “get through,” administrators and parents watching me carefully to ensure their child passes the assessment exams, and unprepared students that might get on my nerves, but I am ready to take on those challenges. I am ready to touch students’ lives because of the devotion I have for the teaching profession I am entering. One quote that comes to mind is by Palmer, the author of "Courage to Teach". He made a very interesting statement about teaching; “…good teaching comes from the integrity and identity of the teacher, not methods and techniques.” Yes, I’ve been trained on the theories that should be incorporated into everyday teaching, and I have my own methods that work for different scenarios that occur in the classroom, but teaching isn’t just about that. The integrity and identity of who I am as a lifelong learner will help me change students’ lives, in one way or another, only if I open the doors to the classroom that’s awaiting creation.