Trust and student teaching

I start student teaching in one week and I'm scared. I have worked hard to find ways to integrate technology and make learning fun and relevant for students. I'm no longer worried about my desire or ability to teach, only about my ability to communicate deftly enough to gain the trust of my cooperating teacher. She has told me that she is very strict and very protective of her classroom. The reins are held tightly in hand. As an adult embarking on a second career, I know that it will do no good to try to wrestle those reins away. Instead I will need to be patient and to earn her trust slowly so that we develop trust. Perhaps it's not her comfort level or barriers that I should worry about, but my own. Maybe I need to look inward and realize that I need to stay focussed on the students and trust that she will guide me if I let her.

Firing up the blog again

I look at the dates of my previous posts and it's clear that I've been slacking on the blogging this past year. (More of a slogger than a blogger.) I'm back because, as my teacher-preparation coursework and fieldwork intensifies, I need a place to rest and reflect. It's a little too heavy for Facebook.

To mark this milestone, the blog name changeth once again. I'm still not happy with it, but at least it states my purpose in entering this profession. That purpose is simply to have a purpose. In other words, I want everything my students and I do in the classroom to be relevant - and for each of us to be able to articulate why it's relevant.

This is not as easy as it looks.

Desire Paths

I would like to share a quote with you from Andrew Douch's blog.

"A 'desire path' is an unplanned path worn into being by people leaving the path provided by a landscape designer. There is a principle in landscape design that some people call ‘paving the desire path’. Instead of planning and laying paths and then expecting people to follow them, you watch people, to see where they actually go, and then pave those paths. Paved desire paths will be more successful - because you are simply making it easier for people to do what they want to do anyway."

Douchy uses this image as a metaphor for deciding which technology tools to use in the classroom.

For me, the metaphor extends to my feelings about technology in the classroom - and my philosophy of education in general. I hear so many teachers complain about how tired they are of nagging students to put away cell phones and i-pods and to stop sneaking off to myspace.

Why not yield to their intuition - and connect their interests to what we are trying to teach?

Why not follow their path and see where it goes?

No RSVP required

Setting up a social network is kind of like preparing for a party. What should the theme be? Who to invite?

There is a lot of planning involved, but I also need to leave some room for spontaneity. What can I add to make sure everyone has a good time and wants to come back? Some new widgets and games to loosen things up, but also some familiar recipes so everyone can keep one foot in their comfort zone.

My new social network was designed for future educators. But everybody is invited. If you know any teachers-to-be who might like to join, please send them a link. Also, if you're a current teacher or teacher of teachers, please drop by and share from your experiences.

Dress casual.