In reading “Schools That Learn”, I reflected on many different aspects of education, comparing what the book ideally talks about accomplishing day-by-day with what I can actually accomplish in my classroom on a daily basis. The part of the book that stuck out the most to me contained the headline, “A Shared Vision Process for the Classroom.” I immediately thought about this phrase that I had also come across in my readings, “The one person who could fix these problems and reflect on the system as a whole and how it is functioning has no voice—and that’s the student.” I thought to myself, how can I give my students a voice? When I give them choices between cooperative learning or individual work, they take advantage and fool around. When I ask for their opinions on what topics they want to review or spend more time on, they choose nothing and aren’t interested. How could we rely on student voices to fix the problems within the education system or even within my own classroom if they have no motivation in being in a math class?
After reading about “A Shared Vision Process for the Classroom”, I took a step back from the negativity I was initially feeling and opened up my mind to this “Shared Vision” which sounded so appealing and ideal to me. Tim Lucas talks about ways to approach students on the first day of school to set the tone in your classroom for the whole year. Rather than reading a whole long list of rules and guidelines, the most important things we should be doing on that first day is asking our students a series of questions such as, “What would you like this classroom to be like? How would you like to be treated here? What would make you look back and say, “This was a great class?” By asking students these questions on the first day of school, you give each student a chance to think about what he/she wants from you, your class, and school. It encourages them to set goals on day 1 and shifts the responsibility onto them to achieve them. As a class, you have developed a shared vision for the future days, weeks, and months. Together, you can work to make your classroom engaging through the open, comfortable relationship you have developed together. Lucas discusses how now, discipline is no longer just in the hands of the teacher. You can continually refer back to the ground rules cocreated by the class to fix problems that arise and find adequate solutions.
Again, things are not always as nice or perfect in a real classroom as we would like. Although a certain technique may sound good, in reality, it just doesn’t work as nice. This is where my negativity came from, and where the frustration comes from for a lot of teachers. This book has taught me that the key to success is realizing that everyday will not be perfect but at the same time, understanding that learning is driven by a vision, a shared vision that we should all have with each of our students for a healthy learning environment.
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8 comments:
I loved your choice of words "healthy vision." Reading your entry was refreshing in a way, to know that there are teachers out there who are struggling with negativity. Even though I don't have my own classroom, I can envision the same issues arising. I really liked the solution that was mentioned for the first day of school, what a great way to let students feel like their say matters. I'll have to remember that for my own classroom!
Fran, I enjoyed reading your response. I agree with you when reading about how including kids can be tough considering the daily realities of behavior issues and apathy that can get in the way. Like Danielle stated, the ideas from Tim Lucas about how to include students into the classroom were excellent! They were practical suggestions that directly correlate to the idea of a 'Shared Vision'. This reminded me of my readings in Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind. One of the six senses that he writes about is Meaning. By reflecting on the question, "What would make you look back and say, 'This was a great class'?", both teachers and students have a chance to bring meaning/purpose into the school year.-Amy
You make a really great point Fran. I love the idea of giving responsibility, ownership, and the steering wheel to our students, but now I’ll bring back the negativity you were feeling earlier. I also agreed with the fact that students are apathetic. I think it’s nice to give them the controls, but after the first week or month, they don’t care where they go or how they get there. The teacher needs to bring that vision and direction to the classroom. In the end, it is a battle between teachers and their students. Even in TEAM, in grad school, our vision as students needs constant reinforcement and redirection from our professors, and we want to be at TEAM. It is possible to achieve what you write about, but I see the problems and obstacles more clearly than the benefits.
I totally can relate to your feelings of negativity Fran. I like the idea of giving students options so they feel like an important part of the class. I think that it might influence to reflect and take more of an active role in the classroom if they are the ones setting the rules and choosing assignments and class structure.
Great blog, I really agree with you about the discussion on the first day of school. It is really an important part that plays a big role. A simple act such as welcoming students at the door can really make a huge difference!
Great insight Fran. "Choice" can definately lead to one being personally invested. Asking what students think rather than giving out "our" rules.. that is very thought provoking. I might have to incorporate this in September.
Any positive or negative action or feedback given by students to their teacher(s) is a student trying to fix the education system. Each child is unique and every situation has different perspectives and any action that students participate in in the classroom is feedback to the teacher that needs need to be met.
While a shared vision is great because it establishes a framework for a year of expectations, a school that learns has hills and valleys that need to be explored as students progress from day one of the school year to 180.
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