"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn" - John Cotton Dana
Carol Dome's classroom was noisy, crowded, and sometimes even smelled! But it wasn't her students' fault - it was the animals.
Carol believed that elementary school is a time for exploration and discovery. Creation was up close and personal for her students, and they used any spare moment to observe and comment on their surroundings. The circle of life included them, and Carol's teaching helped connect them all. All except her principal, Mr. Dawsey.
All he saw upon entering her class was chaos. He didn't even know where to begin to conduct her teacher evaluation. He knew the students loved this teacher; he just wasn't convinced much learning was going on. Until one day. . .
The children were unusually reticent and calm when Principal Dawsey entered that day. One of the baby chicks, newly hatched, had died suddenly. Carol Dome was sitting in their midst on the floor, her hands cupped around the now still chick. Each child quietly opened their journals and wrote their reactions to this event. Then one child moved to the bulletin board and adjusted the growth chart of their animal nursery. Finally, another child fetched their book on hatching chicks and read aloud the section about problems during hatching.
Mr. Dawsey saw these children apply a myriad of skills that day, even in the midst of tragedy. Carol Dome's evaluation was a much clearer task to him now. Learning was indeed occurring - even for him.
There is more than one right way to teach!
Prompt: How would you evaluate the learning going on in your classroom? What can you do to create an environment that helps your students apply what they have learned?
No comments:
Post a Comment