This summer has been an interesting summer. I haven't been in the building all that much and therefore have only seen people who have asked for help for course work or projects. One of my colleagues took a course in technology use in the classroom and we had a wonderful time talking tools and methods. The one thing that struck me was the uncertainty of the ability of her summer school students to participate in and complete some complex projects. She didn't know if her students would be able to do the things that she wanted them to do. Although she was teaching summer school students, she wanted to try out some assignments using some new tools. We discussed the tools, reviewed how they worked, and discussed the educational projects themselves. She said that she felt more comfortable trying out the strategies in the smaller group than during the hustle and bustle of full day teaching. She was so successful that she laughed at how easy she thought that it will be to replicate the asssignments in her classes in the fall.
She considered herself lucky to be able to try out something new in a very non-threatening environment - small class size, few interruptions of the daily life during the regular school year, and hands-on-help if needed. The biggest thing that I noticed is the real belief that when school starts in a few weeks her students have the ability to do these projects. Her belief system has grown. And that is one of the bases of good teaching practices - the sincere belief that students have the ability to succeed! How successful can a teacher be if they do not have a belief in their students?
My question to the rest of my staff is what are your expectations for your students in the fall. Do YOU believe?
The following came to me in one of my blog readings yesterday!
PS Here is the Wordle of the day - Students is the winner!
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