Month: August 2018

I got to spend a whole day teaching!

Yes, a whole day. I’ll admit when I got the text Sunday evening letting me know that none of our subs were available, I had mixed feelings about spending the whole day teaching. I loved the idea of teaching, but I have a full inbox, board policies to review, a facilities plan that needs updating, two community meetings to prepare for and facilitate this week, contracts to move forward…

However, I had the best day and yes, while teaching is definitely a demanding position, I found that current technology has changed the modern student’s knowledge base, and that can make teaching a lot more fun and interesting than it use to be, and  I’ve always loved teaching. 

Somewhat serendipitously, I came across this post from Eric Curts’ on Twitter feed this weekend and sent it to myself thinking, “This would be fun to do if I got the opportunity to guest teach.” Yep, it was fun to do and the students had as much fun learning about me as I did about them.

For more great lesson ideas from Eric Curts check out: https://www.controlaltachieve.com/

The top ten items that made teaching today more fun, interesting and dare I say easier than what I remember from back in the day:

• Being able to set a timer on my phone for every single transition and reminder needed throughout the day
• Being able to play music with a couple of taps on the same device as the timer
• The Google Suite of Tools! Lesson plans on the fly, sharing, and collaborating all happened within in minutes and the students were engaged as they watched me prepare via the projector and listen to me explain the directions and the why of the activities while they waited for the assignment to appear in their inbox.
• Instant evaluation and monitoring of student work through shared Google Docs and Slides.
• YouTube! There is so much rich and interesting content to use as a hook for lessons.
• Twitter – Instant lessons plans around the 4Cs (Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity).
• Facebook – Instant lessons plans around the 4Cs (Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity).
• Lesson Planning – Seriously, being connected to such a great PLN made lesson planning quick, easy, and fun.
• The Students – Today’s student has a wealth of knowledge and skill sets that just didn’t even exist when I was teaching full-time. They are able to correct, share, and collaborate with adults with ease.
• Experience – I’ve been observing hundreds of different teachers for the past ten years which has given me the gift of really knowing what effective and engaging instruction looks and feels like.

*Bonus Item (because this is education and even if bonus points are a flawed grading practice, we all like our bonus points!) Formative Assessment and Immediate Feedback embedded digitally and immediately throughout the entire day. Wow, just wow!

Here’s to you Teachers! You have a great job and I was thrilled to be fully among your ranks again today.