10 ideas for transforming your classroom

Thought this blog post from a year ago was worth posting again — the sole district focus for White Oak ISD is to ‘Transform Classroom Instruction.’ The transformation occuring across the district in many classrooms is truly amazing, with teachers at every grade level and/or subject area working to engage students at the highest level and challenging them with project-based learning units that are inquiry-driven, and filled with collaboration, creativity, and student voice and choice. Add the high levels of technology integration to the mix and what our teachers are creating is student-centered, student facilitated classrooms that drive 21st Century Learning.

http://smartblogs.com/education/2012/08/20/10-ideas-transforming-teaching-school-year/

The experiences of a first year teacher

When I came across the site, Brown Bag Teacher, I was curious to read the blogs posted about teaching strategies, resources, and classroom experiences. What I got from the beginning was a first person blog from a new teacher. She writes with clarity, honesty and humility about her day-to-day experiences that capture the very essence of why we do what we do. Today’s specific post is technology/app related and tells of the classroom visit from her superintendent. What she is doing in her classroom in many ways resembles the very things going on in our classrooms across the district– while teaching philosophies vary, learning spaces set up differently, and lessons planned to target a variety of skills and abilities, the one common thread is that every choice we make, or action we take focuses on students. We live in a time of change but the one constant is how to make our classrooms student-centered, how to teach BIG, and how to convey a love of life-long learning to our students. I believe we can ALL do this!

No matter how long I’m in this business, no matter how many changes, challenges, or hoops I’m forced to jump through for the sake of accountability, no matter how often the roadblocks pop up to prevent forward motion, I’m still as excited today as I was 33 years ago when I stepped into my first classroom. It’s always comforting to get a breath of fresh air………….just something to think about.

http://www.bloglovin.com/frame?post=1814648799&group=0&frame_type=a&blog=5553235&link=aHR0cDovL3RoZWJyb3duYmFndGVhY2hlci5ibG9nc3BvdC5jb20vMjAxMy8xMC9zb2NyYXRpdmUtYW5kLXN1cGVyaW50ZW5kZW50cy5odG1s&frame=1&click=0&user=4693491