This week I invited an educator who retired from the Missouri Public Schools system (who also happens to be my lovely grandmother) to share her thoughts on teaching. As a teacher of over twenty years’ experience (and now retired for ten years), I have seen many changes in classroom teaching, only some of which have been helpful. Many have not. As more and more attempts at micro-managing the classroom have been implemented over the years, education seems to have suffered rather than prospered as rigid curriculums have become the increasing focus of administrators and vocal parents alike to the point that all teachers should be teaching exactly the same lessons on the same day with total focus on content. All goals and objectives should be listed in lengthy, detailed lesson plans and not to be deviated from when once written down. The unfortunate victims of this paranoid attempt at making one education fit all has often seen the demise of two of the most necessary compon...
Yesterday, I completed a district-provided professional development on cooperative learning. Cooperative learning presents collaborative learning experiences for students and creates a higher rate of student participation. It can increase student understanding and achievement at a much higher rate than basic call-and-response lectures. I love the practice of getting students up and moving and changing the flow of a typical work day. I am implementing cooperative learning strategies in my classroom by first creating a seating chart more focused on learning needs- this is something newer for me. I tend to focus on arrangements more on behavior, now I have added another piece to the puzzle and created a space that I hope will be more productive for every one of my students. Once students are in their new seats, we will do some team building and bonding activities. I plan on asking them to create a team mascot and they...