When Haystack EDU invited me to write a blog about why I love to teach, I immediately started listing all of the usual suspects: the kids, those “light bulb” moments, how much fun it is to guide students along their learning paths, etc. But then something happened in class last week that put all of those things on the back-burner and truly encapsulated why I love to teach.
Picture this: There are less than ten days left in the school year. The kids are acting like they’re already on summer vacation, and as a teacher, I am struggling to get out of bed each morning. (Trust me, no matter how much you love to teach, the end of the school year is HARD!) But my job is to teach and, regardless of what my third graders think, their job is to learn.
So I sat at my desk planning lessons. I realized that I still needed to hit on a few social studies standards about the history of the Native Americans. I teach in the state of Washington, so I decided to focus on the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. I gathered a bunch of books and narrowed down the learning targets for my kiddos. The learning targets, while important and necessary, where not very exciting: I can use the table of contents to locate information and I can take notes on a topic. Wheeee!!!!. . . . zzzzzzz. . . .
But this is actually one of the best things about being a teacher – every lesson is like a puzzle: How do I take what the students need to learn and make it engaging, exciting, and FUN for them? My go-to secret weapon is almost always ART. Elementary school kids are ridiculously creative and the sad fact is that formal art classes in the public schools are an endangered species. I feel a responsibility to keep the creativity alive in my students as much as I can.
So with the standards, learning targets, and art in mind, I crafted an experience for my students. They were to use the table of contents to find specific information in their books, take the necessary notes, and then display their learning by creating a foldable 3D pyramid on which they could illustrate what they had learned. Not a mind-blowingly innovative lesson by any means, but not too shabby for the end of the year either.
And here it is – the point to this whole story! As my students were working, I circulated the room for a bit and then sat down next to one of my students who happened to be working alone. She appeared to be really into what she was doing, and as she did her thing, I just sat there and watched. At one point she looked up and said, “This is really cool, Mrs. Kelly!” To which I replied, “Oh yeah? Why is that?” She responded, “Well, I’m like reading AND writing and then I’m doing art, AND I have to concentrate on everything. . . It’s like I’m a superhero! I’m doing it ALL!”
Author: Allison Kelly
15th Year Teacher
3rd Grade
Vancouver, WA
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