Beyond the Classroom

There is some controversy about pedagogically sound methods of incorporating 21^st Century technology into the classroom.  Some of my colleagues are more daring than I; others, even more reserved, especially when it comes to social networking with students.  My particular school district hasn’t outright forbidden its teachers from participating on social networking sites, but there have been plenty of cautionary tales bandied about with the prevalent message of covering your backside.  (By the way, that was an early lesson for me, as my supervising teacher during my internship pulled out a manila folder, wrote CYA on the tab, and proceeded to tell me how documentation is protection.)

Still, the students themselves use popular social networking sites regularly, and quite often, I receive invitations to connect with students on such a site.  My general rule has been that I won’t accept invitations from current students at my school, and seeing as I teach seniors, graduation day has my notifications page full of requests.  I’ve added to my contacts students from my very first year of teaching—back when I knew everything and nothing, all at the same time—as well as from my most recent graduating classes.  One perk to this set up is that I get to hear from students as they prepare for and begin college.  I also read about their pranks, parties, and procrastinations, but I just skim that part and remember why it’s a good idea not to accept invitations from current students. 

Recently, I chatted with two former students, in two separate conversations.  One let me know that college wasn’t working out for him right now, but he’s going to get back into regular studies next semester.  Another spoke with me about recent events in the news and about my upcoming departure from my current school.  Neither one of them said anything pointedly about my class in particular, but just spending the time to have a five-minute internet chat with a former teacher speaks to me.  The maturity and social consciousness I glean from the questions they ask or opinions they offer make me proud of the individuals they are growing into.  If I choose to project into such conversations the belief that my class must have been significant to them somehow for them to want to share their lives with me beyond the time that they must, well, who can blame a teacher for finding encouragement from wherever it comes?  Within the social context of scapegoating teachers and over-reliance on high stakes testing to label teachers as effective, there’s some inherent value to hearing from the students themselves that they’re pleased with what they got out of my class.  It might not be as objective as testing data or as well-rounded as student surveys, but it can heal a teacher’s soul of the end-of-the-year despair that descends this close to examinations, reminding me that there’s more to this education thing than can be determined by a two-hour test, and that I don’t merely teach content, but rather, I teach people.

Outstanding Educators Build Connections

An outstanding educator understands that teaching is a craft comprised of as many various elements as any other artisan’s.  As with any craftsperson, teachers must develop their skills, further their knowledge, and seek out the expertise of others.  Furthermore, teachers must know their audience while balancing the demands and expectations of other stakeholders.  Of primary importance in the quest to become an outstanding educator is the building of connections with students and with colleagues. 

Skillful practitioners not only build connections between and among ideas, times, places, and content for their students, but they also build personal connections with their students.  Building rapport with students is important for any classroom instructor who prefers earning the willing cooperation of students rather than relying on punitive or manipulative techniques to force compliance.  This is especially true in Title I schools where students thrive when they’re assured an adult is in their corner, cheering them on and even going to battle for their futures.  Outstanding educators take the need for connecting with students beyond the four walls of the classroom.  A true facilitator must be able to offer students learning opportunities that engage the students’ desire to become owners of their own status as learners.  Such educators incorporate learning strategies for students into their lesson plans, while developing methods to promote cooperative classroom dynamics by showing fairness and consistency in behavioral expectations and content assessment.  Moreover, teachers must never cease to be learners themselves, as content knowledge expands and educational research continues to develop.  By modeling for students what lifelong learning looks like, educators demonstrate the benefits of such an attitude for students.  Expertise in a subject area does not indicate a person has the ability to open that field to students; conversely, relating to students so as to encourage them to understand the value of a particular field to their own lives, lowering the affective filter to make the classroom a safe place, and transferring the balance of power to students as learners are skills wielded by master educators.   

While many formal opportunities exist to engage teachers in furthering their content knowledge and developing their mastery—from professional development workshops to university courses, to publications from the academic fields and professional organizations—the benefits of opening discourse with the practitioner in the room next door are undeniable.  True practitioners participate in academic dialogue regarding classroom strategies, technology implementation, and content knowledge on a local and personal level through shared best practices with immediate colleagues.  Teaching is not a stable craft, as materials (textbooks, policy, curriculum, and students) change constantly.  Team building within a faculty ensures that teachers know they can rely on each other for an understanding and sympathetic ear after a bad day, an inspiring approach to a difficult challenge, and a supportive strategy to ensuring student success.  Mutual mentoring allows teachers to develop techniques for adapting to the ever-shifting trends in educational politics, student dynamics, curriculum, and leadership.  Through professional learning communities (particularly the ones developed by like-minded educators themselves), peer observations, and common planning time, teachers can exchange strategies, philosophies, updates, sources, assessments, approaches, and coping mechanisms that expand the individual craftsperson’s toolbox.  Cultivating professional relationships that allow for such give and take among colleagues is a practice of an outstanding educator. 

          No craft is developed in a vacuum; nor is teaching.  The pursuit of continual growth is the true genius of an outstanding educator.  Teachers become artisans through their experiences and interactions with students and colleagues both when they accept the challenges provided by each new class and when they shape their pedagogy and skills on the anvil of collaboration with other practitioners of the teaching craft. 

(This is an essay I wrote while applying for a teaching position.  One positive thing about a new job hunt is the chance to explicitly review my philosophy of education.)