A few very smart and accomplished kindergarten teachers came up to me recently and talked about the new thoughts they were having about teaching writing in their classrooms this year. One of the greatest joys of teaching is the opportunity we have to begin again each September. The academic calendar affords us the time to reflect and the space to plan anew for the journey that awaits us and the children we teach.
I am quite passionate about working with students to help them uncover the writer that lives in each of them. And I am decidedly fortunate to work for an administration that not only supports that passion, but wholeheartedly applauds and celebrates it. Some of the teachers in my school have seen the work of student writers who have found their voices and developed their confidence, and this has led to a reflective instructional stance in many classrooms in our building.
Reflection is best considered a recursive endeavor, much like revision in the writing process. There really is no clear beginning or end to the reflective practice; hopefully, it hovers behind, around, and inside every instructional move we make. And when we, as teachers, begin our year by shining a full light on the reflections we've made and even consider bold pedagogical changes as a result, we are embracing what education can be at its best. And our students will reap the benefits.
Aren't those kindergarten students in for a wonderful year?
As Robert Frost said, "I am a writer of books in retrospect. I talk in order to understand; I teach in order to learn." I believe this is true of great teachers as well as great writers.
I am quite passionate about working with students to help them uncover the writer that lives in each of them. And I am decidedly fortunate to work for an administration that not only supports that passion, but wholeheartedly applauds and celebrates it. Some of the teachers in my school have seen the work of student writers who have found their voices and developed their confidence, and this has led to a reflective instructional stance in many classrooms in our building.
Reflection is best considered a recursive endeavor, much like revision in the writing process. There really is no clear beginning or end to the reflective practice; hopefully, it hovers behind, around, and inside every instructional move we make. And when we, as teachers, begin our year by shining a full light on the reflections we've made and even consider bold pedagogical changes as a result, we are embracing what education can be at its best. And our students will reap the benefits.
Aren't those kindergarten students in for a wonderful year?
As Robert Frost said, "I am a writer of books in retrospect. I talk in order to understand; I teach in order to learn." I believe this is true of great teachers as well as great writers.
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