I took two pages of notes today listening to the former MAC
grads. These ranged from savory food for thought — the fact that students are
accustomed to a world full of technology that offers them immediate results and
to what extent that handicaps their ideas of how learning happens, why practice
is important, and what they expect of themselves — to very specific ingredients
to keep on hand, such Quia.com. One of my favorite of these was the “Inspirational
Song of the Day,” or, using music to get students pumped up before a test.
The session also got me thinking about elements I should
address in my classroom management plan, such as: What will be my policy on
eReaders? In this way, hearing from practicing teachers is invaluable; they
brought up things that might not occur to me. For example, one teacher talked
about how she allows students to turn in papers by the end of the day, as
opposed to their class periods, because she has learned from experience that
some students don’t have printers at home and need the opportunity to get to
the school’s computer lab. This is a very specific but helpful thing to know.
But if I tried to articulate a single lesson for the day, it
would be this: I will do well to expand my notion of what a teaching job looks
like. I could be wrong, but I think that not one of the teachers who spoke with
us today works in a public school. They are teaching in charter schools, private
schools, and, interestingly, a hybrid high school-college program. I don’t know
why, but when I think about life after MAC, I imagine a public school.
Hearing from these teachers has opened up whole new worlds.