Tonight, during #Edchat on Twitter, @Jeffskohls posted an interesting idea; what if teachers were given time built into their hectic schedules to pursue something that interests them? This could bring a whole new methodology to education. Rather than high stakes testing being the fuel used to drive learning, it could instead be earnest, well-thought teacher innovation.
When I first read Jeff's tweet I wanted to reply and share with him (and the rest of #edchat) what I do to keep my teaching interesting, but I couldn't quite figure out how to fit it into 140 characters - hence this elaborate (and loosely organized) blog post. So here it goes:
Usually by about mid December I find myself feeling the full weight of the burdens of my curriculum, student behaviors, faculty meetings, etc. I have lots of good ideas, but I find myself with little time to pursue them. This was especially the case this year, so to make sure I didn't forget all these ideas, I made a list on an index card and stuck it to the wall next to my desk. I consider it my teaching "bucket list" - things I want to accomplish before the year comes to an end. Having it in black and white makes my ideas feel more concrete, and a nagging list staring me in the face redirects any downtime I may have during the week toward something productive.
It's May now, and I'm doubtful that I will be able to check everything off my teaching bucket list, but I'm also pleasantly surprised by how much I did manage to accomplish. These ideas rejuvenate me and I truly think they help my students.
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John,
Thank you for your blog post regarding my tweet. As I perused through the Google site, I actually found a few things that could carry over from their businesses philosophies into our educational realm. The last thing I posted on Twitter that pushed 140 characters was Google's vital premise for their user experience group, which is "focus on the user and all else will follow." We can adopt this premise into the educational realm by the substitution of one single word, "focus on the learner and the rest will follow."
I appreciate your idea of a bucket list, and tomorrow I'll be working on a list of my own.
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