Blog Post 4:
Kathryn Shulz, in her TED talk, discusses being wrong. Teachers typically don’t like to be wrong! Ever. But, now we know it is actually okay to be wrong, right?! Describe one educational belief you hold (or have held) that may be (or definitely was) wrong.
Kathryn Schulz’s TED talk was a great reminder that being wrong isn’t a flaw—it’s part of being human, and part of being an educator who continues to grow. One educational belief I once held, because it was something I was taught in my own schooling, was the idea that all students should be able to learn the same material in the same way and at the same pace. I used to think that if I planned a strong lesson, everyone should progress similarly. But with experience, I’ve realized how inaccurate—and unfair—that expectation is. Students come to us with different backgrounds, strengths, needs, and learning timelines. Now I recognize that flexibility, differentiation, and patience are essential parts of good teaching. Letting go of that old belief has made me a more compassionate and effective educator, and it’s helped me appreciate the beautiful range of learners who walk into my classroom each day.
ReplyDeleteI used to do completion points for homework. Its what MY HS math teacher did, so I started by doing that. I would walk around and chat briefly with each student as I looked over their work. This then morphed into being handed in after a few years as kids started to not finish their work, but still did completion points. It wasn't until one year where the content being handed in was just trash and I had a student comment that they got a 100% when they thought they failed it...thats when I new i for sure needed to change my homework policy.
ReplyDeleteAn educational belief I held that may be wrong is late work is punishable by deducting points, as well as missing work (at some point) becomes zeros. This book has opened my eyes to the fact that these practices can make things worse. It damages work ethic and promotes a negative turn in motivation.
ReplyDeleteI always assumed every student could learn math if it was just taught properly. Then I realized that "math brain" and "english brain" are very real, and some people just truly struggle to understand math concepts. Those students have made me a better teacher in learning new ways to explain concepts and simplifying certain things that I just thought was obvious.
ReplyDeleteOne educational belief I used to hold was that taking points off for late or missing work was the best way to teach responsibility. In my head, it was simple, deadlines matter, the real world has consequences, and this was preparing kids for that.
ReplyDeleteOver time I realized I was wrong, or at least wrong enough. A missing assignment does not always mean a student did not learn, it often means something got in the way, time, organization, confidence, or something outside of school. When I graded it like a character flaw, the grade stopped showing learning and started showing who could play the school game the best.
Now I still hold students accountable, but I try to separate behavior from learning. I’d rather have a conversation, figure out what happened, and help them get it done, because if the goal is learning, the grade should reflect learning.
Kathryn Shulz, in her TED talk, discusses being wrong. Teachers typically don’t like to be wrong! Ever. But, now we know it is actually okay to be wrong, right?! Describe one educational belief you hold (or have held) that may be (or definitely was) wrong.
ReplyDeleteAn educational belief that I hold that was definitely wrong is that I had to know every answer that a student would ask or that I need to know how to teach every concept well. As I’m a third year teacher and first year in first grade, I have partnered with my instructional coach to become more of an effective teacher and to be able to grow as an educator. I thought that because I have a college degree and a master’s degree that I should just know how to teach everything and not get support, but that was wrong.
An educational belief that I have held in the past and have attempted with very little success is to "say" that I differentiate my instruction daily. Instructional differentiation is a great concept and it has been drummed into us as instructors for quite some time now. However, I cannot, as one single human being, teach the same lesson to two different student groups at the exact same time. I can differentiate the assignment and how students might take notes during that class presentation or even how each child is assessed, but I cannot give two different instructional lessons at the exact same time. We can differentiate groups that provide specific instruction to that particular group for that moment in time...but I can't get to everyone's exact learning style at every moment of every day.
ReplyDeleteI have learned how important it is to be wrong and to take ownership for that, especially with my 6th grade students. We expect them to take ownership and have accountability but sometimes we as teachers are the only ones in their lives that model that for them.
ReplyDeleteI feel like many ideas come to mind, but as society is ever-changing, I believe the biggest belief that has changed even since I started teaching was the amount of support from parents. I know this changes per district and grade level. However, I feel like overall the concept of it being the "teacher's fault" has greatly shifted. Kids aren't held accountable by parents at the same standard they once were. Like I said, this isn't true for everyone, but I have seen a big shift. At conferences you hear more of "why did YOU give my child this grade?" At times this form of thinking can make it difficult for the parents and teachers to be on a team together to help the students succeed in the best way possible. It is almost like it is the parent and child against the teacher.
Being a special education teacher, I learned quickly to always presume competence no matter the different ability someone may have. I currently have a student in a wheelchair who uses an eye gaze device to speak. She has just started using it more often and it is a process in learning how to use it. When we first thought she was learning how to use it, we describe it as a baby learning to speak with babbling. There's no rhyme or reason to what is being said, but we love that she is learning to navigate it. One day while I thought she was taking a nap in her chair next to me, she woke up and started navigating on her device, "I hungry" and her gaze was on a muffin that was on the table. I gave her a bite of the muffin and she navigated on her device to a new page and said, "different". She was not a fan of the muffin, but wanted a different snack. While others may think that she is just sitting in the corner of my room and we are not challenging her, she is very bright and has thoughts and feelings just like everyone else. She is slowly gaining confidence on that speaking device and will talk to many people who want to talk to her.
ReplyDeleteTrue-er words have never been spoken. Teachers like to be right always. As I see with veteran teachers, this thought is very much in practice.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher I have been wrong many times, and I try to look at it as growth, taking ownership and learning. I teach my students the same thing. I have a sign in my classroom that says "It's ok to make mistakes here."
I think one of the beliefs that I was the most wrong about would be that my challenging, difficult, students, could never change, want to do better, want to learn. This is so far from the truth. This was my thinking as a young teacher. Teaching in the Inner City of Phoenix taught me the opposite. It's all they want and its all they hear is negative things. They start to believe it after a while. As teachers we need to truly believe in our students and they will feel that and the learning and transformation takes place.
When I first started the thought was I needed a very detailed daily lesson plan. Although these are handy and make class run very smooth they are almost impractical at the high school setting most days. Yes, I like to be organized as I am a very type A person, but planning for everything is impractical. An example is 6 out 13 students are missing from my first period class and I had a very structed lab planned for the day. Instead of doing the lab today I can shift to other vital content that might be less demanding for students to make up. With so many absentee students, activities, club meetings, and other random things that pop up I can be organized, but not concrete to my plans.
ReplyDeleteAs I think about this concept, I have to realize how incredibly difficult it must be for my students to have to face being wrong so much of the time. As they are learning a concept, mistakes will be made and I need to remember to be supportive and focus on the things they have done right. I try to model acceptance of being wrong by admitting it and apologizing when I get things wrong, because I remember so many teachers and adults in my life that made mistakes and would not own up to it. If we expect students to admit and accept their mistakes, we must be able to also. Like math facts memorization, just because I had in my head that this should be accomplished by a certain grade or age, doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to happen for all students at the predetermined time.
ReplyDeleteOne belief I once held was that students learn best when taught according to specific learning styles like visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. I thought matching instruction to a child’s preferred style would improve learning. I have since learned that research does not strongly support this idea. Instead, using a variety of instructional methods benefits all students. Letting go of this belief helped me focus more on evidence-based practices rather than labeling students by learning styles.
ReplyDeleteOne educational belief that I have held is that paper and pencil is the best way for students to learn and that technology is distracting. Over the years, there has been a lot of educational resources that can be found online and through apps. While I still think that technology can be distracting, I am able to find the benefit in it when used correctly.
ReplyDeleteKathryn Shulz, in her TED talk, discusses being wrong. Teachers typically don’t like to be wrong! Ever. But, now we know it is actually okay to be wrong, right?! Describe one educational belief you hold (or have held) that may be (or definitely was) wrong.
ReplyDeleteOver several years of teaching I have come to the realization that several of my early teaching educational beliefs were wrong. One that sticks out the most that teachers should know or are in control of everything. I quickly discovered that this was not the case and probably the furthest thing from the truth. This ideological view of teaching is basically setting yourself up for failure, disappointment, frustration, and burn-out. I was fortunate to have a coworker point this out to me early on in my career. I now impart that wisdom on to incoming and prospective teachers. Yes, you want to plan and prepare for your lessons and students but you never know what the day will bring and you have to be able to pivot and think on your feet. I point this out to my students when things come up like late starts, snow days, early outs, assemblies, drills, or other distractions that we have to switch gears to make things work. We also do a lot of learning together if I don't know the answer to their question. I admit that I don't know or I made a mistake, I think it allows students to see the human side of the teacher and we are not that much different. I had a college professor tell us, "You can't know everything about something, you can't know something about everything, all you can know is you know something about something."
"Wow, I don't know, maybe I am wrong!" My wife is getting me a shirt with this on it!
One thing that I have done in Kindergarten is if I make a mistake, I help the students understand that even teachers can make mistakes and that it's okay. We just need to learn from our mistakes and try not to do it again.
ReplyDeleteKathryn Shulz, in her TED talk, discusses being wrong. Teachers typically don’t like to be wrong! Ever. But, now we know it is actually okay to be wrong, right?! Describe one educational belief you hold (or have held) that may be (or definitely was) wrong.
ReplyDeleteOver the years, I've made it a point to know how to solve my math homework problems several different ways and have the answer ready incase students need help. In class, sometimes when going over strategies and doing guided notes, I'll make a mistake and the students will notice. I normally say ... "I'm just making sure you are awake" and then I follow it up with teachers are humans too and make mistakes all the time - that's how we learn!
Kathryn Shulz, in her TED talk, discusses being wrong was a great reminder that were you fail, you learn; much like being wrong. I will say in my first years of teaching when my schedule did not play out according to my lesson plan or when a lesson flopped, I would feel like a failure but as years went on, I realized that failing was learning. I can say that I did not expect to learn so much from failing but as I get older, I listen to my experiences and if I fail, it is a message teaching me how to do better. Although, failing or being wrong is still not comfortable and I do not like it but in the end if I can look at the bigger picture and learn from it, than it was well worth it.
ReplyDeleteKathryn Shulz, in her TED talk, discusses being wrong. Teachers typically don’t like to be wrong! Ever. But, now we know it is actually okay to be wrong, right?! Describe one educational belief you hold (or have held) that may be (or definitely was) wrong.
ReplyDeleteKathryn Shulz's TED talk helped me see that being wrong is not always a bad thing as it can lead to learning and growth. Her message applied to an educational belief that I once held that is not always right. In fact, in most cases it is wrong. I used to believe that it was critical to assign a lot of homework to ensure that student practiced outside of class. In addition, I thought that that homework should count for a large percentage of their grade. However, I now know that this believe is not always right. Students don't always use homework to practice and learning. They simply complete it and sometimes it is not there own work.
I now plan to change homework so it is used as practice. Implementing Dueck's in-class quizzes strategy, it is more likely students will complete homework as practice for an in-class quiz the next day. Implementing this strategy, I will not need to grade homework or assign a lot of homework.
My original idea that teachers should assign a lot of homework and it should have a lot of weight on a student's grade was wrong. Being wrong was an opportunity for learning and growth as Kathryn Schulz highlighted in her TED talk.