Now starting with a title like this people may get ideas that would go on forever. If I gave this to a grade eight class ...well, all hell would break loose! It would be fun though.
However, for today I will ignore other suggestions and present my own.
I think every teacher should have to take and teach some art, drama, music, shop, home ec., special ed and phys. ed. Now there would be challenges but I'm not looking for expertise in these fields. Teachers would not be assigned these classes permanently but given enough time to learn something. Teachers would need some special training in the areas and would team teach with someone who has majored in the field. I want teachers to see the special skills used in these areas and to put them in their own teaching strategies. My music ability is completely lacking but I do remember taking music in teachers' college and teaching music in my first year. It was ugly but I did it.
I have taught with and observed teachers in all these areas. I saw things these teachers had that would benefit every teacher.
Teachers in these areas have to be master planners and organizers. They think in a different way because kids are working individually or in groups. Those kids have to be on task. Routines have to be set up so that everybody knows where to go and what their responsibility is. In shop the kids have to know safety and rotate from one area to another so that at the end of the term they have completed all units.
Art, drama and music call for some creativity. All teachers need creativity to motivate kids. Coaching calls for strategy and planning where each player should be and what their responsibility is. The whole team works as a unit. I love watching coaches. They have a system. Every teacher should have a system.
Special ed was part of my department. I went to learning disability workshops. I was amazed at the strategies those teachers used. I certainly thought about how some kids could benefit from special ed. strategies.
My all time favorite was to go to professional development for primary teachers. I did have some gr. ones in my first year teaching. I loved teaching the little guys. That's where you get down to the nitty gritty of teaching. Many strategies have to be used.
So if I had it to do all over again I would try to gain more strategies from these teaching areas.
Now what do you think all teachers should...?
I remember the first autistic kid I had, befuddled what to do since I only had one class in college that approached it. I later went into special ed and learned lots. I like the full spectrum idea. It is hard to help the students in your classes with those subjects if you aren't understanding.In special ed we had a study hall with your group of children and I had to be fluid in everything they took.
ReplyDeleteThe more time you spend with a kid , the better you get to know them . The opposite is true where kids get to know you better.
DeleteI think your ideas are good. I was a fourth grade teacher when I started my career. I taught music, art and PE as well as all regular subjects. Mostly I taught kids, not subjects. Elementary teaching is holistic. However I was very happy when i no longer had to teach PE. As a reading specialist, I taught a lot of first graders to read. That is am intricate but amazing process.
ReplyDeleteSeeing kids learn to read is like watching magic! I had three gr ones the first year I taught and I felt very successful to see what they had learned.
DeleteAll teachers should care about their students as much as you did, Red. That's probably the most important thing, in my opinion. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's not only care, I think you have to get to kno kids.
DeleteI agree. The better experienced and the more diverse one approaches a class, the better the teaching will be. Learners learn in many different ways and we need various glasses to see the students and their approaches. School should always be a safe place where a person's heart and soul are nurtured.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas in your comment. Well said from some experience.
DeleteTeachers managing gr. 1 - 6 teach all subjects! There are smaller schools where gr. 7/8 has cut out specialists, as well. I taught all of them in Central Ontario.
ReplyDeleteI think it far more important to teach a variety of grades, in a variety of settings. I taught in multicultural schools, rural, urban, high and low socioeconomic settings. I learned a lot from my kids.
They are doing away with Family Studies (AKA Home Ec), as well as D & T in the traditional sense in 7/8. This is a shame.
As a gramma, I shake my head, and have to let it all go. My worry are my adult kids. You can fret about everything and give yourself an ulcer, if you do!
Teaching everything to a class is beneficial for the teacher and students. Okay, you have the one big pest. I'd rather have the big pest a second year as the pest is used to me and I'm used to the pest.
DeleteAn interesting idea! I'm sure all teachers could learn flexibility and adaptability from that model! I'd be terrified of teaching music, though. I can't read a note!
ReplyDeleteI think something like team teaching could get you by in music. I'd try it anyway.
DeleteAs an artist I'm disappointed that so many schools have cut funding for the arts. As an art teacher, I tried to inspire my students to think creatively, hoping it would inspire and motivate them to seek unique solutions for other issues in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI think art programs are most important. Art teachers certainly bring out more than creativity in kids.
DeleteTeachers today are expected to do so much....and they don't get the pay or the recognition they deserve.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's disappointing that the job has changed and it's harder to do the good things for kids. I think our pat is reasonable here. We do get recognition from administration and most parents are good to work with.
DeleteI always hated the strict no soul teachers. I don't believe they taught very well either.
ReplyDeleteThe no soul teachers just went though the motions. Heart and soul are needed.
DeleteI think you've got a good idea here. My mother taught in the old one-room schools for a good number of years. Teachers had to have a lot of the skills you mentioned, even art and music because they oversaw the concerts that were part of every school year. She played baseball outside with the kids, too. I also agree with DJan - I always loved best those teachers who clearly were in the job for the right reasons - the kids.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't many people left like your Mom who taught in the one room schools. I spent my 1st year in a one room school . It was a great experience. Of course, I went from gr one to nine in a one room school.
DeleteI think all teachers should have a manageable class size. 15-18 students Max! Sometime all they do is babysit instead of teach. :(
ReplyDeleteI always said, "One kid over 18 and you teach to the walls rather than individuals." You seemed to not be able to see individual kids when you had more than 18.
DeleteVersatility! That's a great thing. Teaching something different, even for a short period, is a great idea. I also like small classrooms rather than the jam packed types you see these days. How can a teacher manage 30 students?! Or focus on them? That's crazy. And I support teachers getting the pay and recognition that they're worth!
ReplyDeleteYour cross-curricular suggestion is a good one. Sometimes it is best to learn things tangentially, rather than head on. As a retired teacher myself, I think all teachers should enjoy more trust and be allowed the freedom to sometimes follow their instincts rather than robotically delivering rigid schemes of work that may not always suit the children in front of them.
ReplyDeleteBefore you think I'm ignoring you again, I reply to comments that are made the day after the blogpost. So you snooze you lose! I liked to take about 12 unsuccessful kids who were causing trouble and modify the curriculum so that they could succeed. I can still remember the smiles when they achieved something. So I agree with you that we should be allowed to go off curriculum.
DeleteRed, What an interesting idea. I like it, but it would have to be implemented as you described, with some training first, and then on a temporary basis, possibly with the regular teacher in the room. As for myself, I majored in business, but, if I had it all to do over again might choose something more creative. The music and art teachers got the same pay I did, so you can't say it would be for money. For the enjoyment and benefit of the students I think it would be good. By the way, we got a little bit of snow last night. Melting off pretty fast this morning. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteYour suggestions are very good. I took a fair amount of history classes in high school, and a good deal of my creative outlet at the time went into drama classes, as well as some art. The arts need to be promoted more heavily in schools.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole I think your ideas are good but then I have no experience of teaching only of being taught. I was a trained coach (of fencing) but that's specialised an quite different from teaching.
ReplyDeleteAs a student I speak more of my art, music, drama, and debate now. Then I every did of my english, math, and such.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
I always enjoyed the Teacher that loved their job .... not so much the Teacher that just taught. You would be one of the ones that loved their job.......for me it was Art, Drama, History and English....and definitely GYM. :)
ReplyDeleteAt first grade, you have to teach almost everything. Actually we did have a drama, art, music and physical education teacher. I would exhausted if I had to do all those subjects. It was hard enough getting all my science experiments in. Still... I do think you're right. Teachers need to learn something of all subjects so they can integrate it into their teaching.
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