These are questions we need to consider as we step back and look at our everyday classroom practice:
MISSION:
1. Why do we exist?
2. What is our core purpose?
3. What is the key fundamental driving force of our school?
VISION:
1. What kind of school can we become?
VALUES:
2. How do we need to behave if we're going to become the kind of school we seek to become?
THREE CRITICAL QUESTIONS THAT SHOULD GUIDE OUR WORK:
1. What is it that we ant our kids to learn?
2. How will we know if they have learned it?
3. How do we respond when they don't learn?
How should our classrooms look if we use these three critical questions to guide our practice?
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15 comments:
It seems obvious that we exist to foster student learning. But it is a fairly difficult step to advance toward a focus on all of our student's learning, not just on our own teaching.
We can become a true professional learning community, complete with teams actively seeking ways to improve our practices. How we behave to become this type of school is key. We must really, really want this. We should look at this as a welcomed challenge and search for time in our schedules to make it work. The first step is to authentically engage in our book study and try hard to apply new lessons to our practices this school year.
We are here to help students learn and build character for the real-world. I would like to see all our students be prepared either for post-secondary or the world of work. Mrs. Elliff and I work closely together in helping students with their career choices and preparing for their choice. Career tech classes are geared more toward project based learning and allowing the students to experiment on their own and the teacher is there as a facilitator. I think they learn more by hands-on activities. I am here to assist them when needed. I know if they learned the standard by their production on the project, if they don't get it, then we redo.
Our purpose is to provide high levels of learning for our students who will one day be our future. Challenging them and expecting the best from them nourishes their self-esteem and hopefully one day develop into confident and active citizens. The driving force are the students and the success stories we see in the classroom and throughout our school. We need to behave in a positive manner and keep our eyes on why we are here and provide the students a quality education that they so rightfully deserve.
How could I say it any better? I am very excited about the future at FHS. I can see some positive things happening that will definitely foster student learning. Jennifer hit it head on by saying, "We must really, really want this...to authentically engage..." If we, as a faculty, want it, it will happen, and everyone will be able to "see" it when they enter our school/classrooms.
These questions can obviously be answered by saying that we are here to help students learn. But, do my actions show this everyday? I want to be a teacher that uses every part of my day in a productive way. I want my students to be interested in what we are learning. I want them to feel like they are building on thier own experiences and see relevance to school. I also want to be part of a school where my fellow teachers feel like they are making a difference and doing the best that they can do.
I think we all agree that we want the best possible education for our students that will prepare them for life in our ever changing world. We do the best we can but are always looking for ways to improve.
Our goal should be giving the necessary instruction to each and every student to ensure his/her learning. I feel that I have to be careful to evaluate my "teaching" to make certain that each of my students feel that they are successful in their own learning. As I heard in college for so long...we want to produce lifelong learners
First of all, I think we "behave" just fine. We may need to fine-tune a few places, but I think we all want our children to learn and become better thinkers. I think that different types of people are authentically engaged in different ways. I think we should remember that there are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners and we should address these differences in our lesson design.
I agree with Mrs. Stewart that one of our most important goals should be to prepare our students for post-secondary education. Far too many of our "good" students don't suceed in college (community or otherwise). One thing we could do is to really work with each other on preparing our students for the work at a higher level. Sometimes I feel that we give our students too many chances. I know that "failure is not an option," but if our students don't experience failure, they will never learn how to recover from it.
Mrs. Barnett is so right on with "how we behave...is key". We must believe in the concept and practice of PLCs to make it work. I would love to be able to meet with all the other teachers on my grade levels about interdisciplinary opportunities and plans. Finding the time is crucial and challenging, but it can be done.
I believe we exist to facilitate student learning. So many times it is easy to get wrapped up in teaching content and forget about teaching what really matters- our students. I believe we should forever endeavor to seek out best practices in instruction and engage in ongoing professional development. We are living in an ever changing world. In order for us to truly exist as teachers in this ever changing world, we must embrace new ideas and concepts. This will involve stepping out of our comfort zones and doing things that we aren't accustomed to doing. However, in the end we as well as our students will reap the benefits.
As the others have already said we are here to help students learn. Somehow I think the true meaning of the word "learn" has been lost over time. I want my students to think critically and be actively engaged in the learning process. I want to help them learn how to figure things out for themselves rather than just giving them the answers. I think that it is important that we prepare our students for the "real" world. I agree with Sharon. They are children and children do make mistakes, but at some point we have to help them to understand that there is not always going to be a second chance. In some ways I think that giving them too many chances now sets them up for failure in the future.
I am a visitor to your blog, from Auburn, just listening in. Your responses are very interesting, one says that "we exist to foster student learning" and a second adds character.. "We are here to help students learn and build character for the real-world" Another gives us the level to which we could aim "to provide high levels of learning" while another gives us the minimum "giving the necessary instruction to each and every student to ensure his/her learning" while a fifth one points us in the direction of this learning and character-b uilding..."to prepare our students for post-secondary education." Looks to me you have the whole picture. JR
Its great of this Professional Learning Community,because they are making many of them aware on the different topics.They are teaching how we behave in the school its a great think.I feel that this is really good for this new generation.
synjones
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