Views from the 8th (year of teaching)

"The most distinctive of these very good teachers is that their practice is the result of careful reflection…They themselves learn lessons each time they teach, evaluating what they do and using their self-critical evaluations to adjust what they do next time." 

                                                                                         (Why Colleges Succeed, Osfed 2004, para.19)

It is so important to take a step back and  look at where we are, where we are coming from and where we plan to go so that we can be prepared for the future. As an educator with almost a decade of teaching experience I have  learned  many  lessons, some hard, others not as easy as I would have imagined. Nevertheless these lessons have impacted my outlook on life, my perspective on the profession and my thinking about the world we live in. There are many takeaways from the classroom that educators share. But I will leave you with four that have remained with me during my tenure.

Plan Hard, Work Smart

Lesson plans can either make you or break you. An excellent lesson plan does not always mean an excellent delivery. Things will go wrong, but we have to learn to think on our feet. The lesson here is to always have a Plan B and maybe a C just in case. "Lesson planning is at the heart of being an effective teacher. It is a creative process that allows us to synthesize our understanding of pedagogy with our knowledge of our learners, the curriculum, and the teaching context. It is a time when we envision the learning we want to occur and analyze how all the pieces of the learning experience should fit together to make that vision a classroom reality" (Jensen,2001). Essentially the lesson will run smoothly once we are prepared. I know writing lesson plans can be daunting, but once you plan to engage your students, allow them to explore and explain their positions, then give them time to extend or elaborate on their thoughts and  ideas and create a space for evaluation; what more do you need from this lesson? Group work, pair work, jigsaw groups, expert groups you name it, use it! Put the time into planning and let your students do the executing. Try not to be a sage on the stage and allow your students to become active participants. Discovery learning is the best!

Be Creative

In almost every classroom we cry for more resources in order to perform our duties we need to be equipped with every gadget, every mobile, every educational tool we can think of in the book. But in reality we will have to do without many of these "required resources" and figure out a way to get on with our lesson. At the core teacher development is dependent on our ability to adapt to our environments and in the Jamaican way of saying things "tek yuh han, tun fashion". Educators at all levels have proven to be some of the most creative beings on the planet. Do not get bullied by your "wants" for the "necessary tools", the truth is the school's budget may never stretch that far. But use what you have until you get what you need. Teachers are the best magicians!

Self preservation is Key

Teachers are an important factors in the education equation. And as such we often extend ourselves to the length and breadth of every situation. But we cannot save them all. This lesson is often a hard one to learn, and sometimes it is not until the consequences arise before we take precautions. Our students become special people in our lives and it is in their best interest that we function as parents, counselors, caregivers and cheerleaders. With all the new responsibilities and the depth of activities involved with teaching, we must be mindful of our psycho-social needs. Our health is our wealth and our families need us. Do not forget to take care of you. You need to live to fight another day. Give your all but save some for tomorrow. The burnout is real!

Reflect and Rethink 

According to Moon (2005,p.1) reflection is a form of mental processing that we use to fulfill a purpose or to achieve some anticipated outcome. It is applied to gain a better understanding of relatively complicated or unstructured ideas and is largely based on the reprocessing of knowledge, understanding and possibly, emotions that we already possess.

The truth is teaching is intense,  it requires much time, energy and patience. But if we stop and reflect on our experiences, maybe starting a journal to keep track of our daily experiences then we can rethink our positions and re-purpose our ideas and reshape them and reuse them for bigger and better plans . Many teachers make a commitment to learn what they need to know to help all students succeed. Let us redesign the way we think about our classrooms. Reap the rewards!

Teacher Pat

#lovewhatyoudo




Patricka Blake-Dennis is the founder and CEO of PD Educates, a successful teacher of History and Curriculum Coach. She's been invited to train, coach and motivate, students, teachers and young professionals by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Norman Manley Law School, Shortwood Teachers College and Northern Caribbean University.

Follow her @mzpattie11