Sunday, January 28, 2018

Teaching Well: Long Term Vision

I am thinking about my long term vision for the classroom--what can I do to improve the teaching/learning for fifth grade students?

As I think ahead, I want to build on the following aspects of a positive teaching/learning classroom culture.

Welcome 
I want to work with my colleagues to keep the message alive that "Everybody Belongs Here." To do that we'll continue to build our efforts to support a welcoming, culturally proficient, inclusive community that works to uplift all learners in ways that matter. Specifically we'll focus on the ways we welcome students and build community at the start of the year. Also, we'll continue to focus on how we work with students to solve conflicts and develop positive friendships and learning relationships. And, we'll reach out to families with regular communication and invitations to collaborate and work together.

Engaging Academic Program
We will continue to develop the academic program so that it is both engaging and empowering. With the understanding that knowledge begets knowledge, we'll continue to look for ways to build students' knowledge in engaging ways. We'll also look for ways to build students' skill and concept as well as learning to learn attitudes and behaviors. Further we'll reach out beyond the school to include experts and field studies in the academic program.

Meaningful Extra Support
To bridge the opportunity gap, we will see how we can use our time well to teach all students including extra support when possible.

Dynamic Learning Environment
As the curriculum program deepens and changes, so does the need to update the learning environment. I will look for ways to update the environment to better support our hands-on science learning, math study, and project/problem based learning in all subject areas.

As I reach in to deepen the teaching/learning, these are the main areas of focus for the years ahead.