Written by I want to start out with a big shout-out to everyone who has gone on this journey with me this year in the Cohort. Teaching is the most rewarding career and one that can both make me pull my hair out, shoot coffee, and yet go to bed with a smile on my face at the end of the day.
To see my final presentation for the Cohort meeting, please click here.
When I started out on this path I had no real set plan… one just happened to fall at my feet.
I began the process of planning a project, my goal was to:
- try something new that I hadn’t done before
- feel uncomfortable
- learn from the process
Mission accomplished.
This model, that of allowing my students near complete control as to the direction, speed of content, even disciplinary action, was not something I had experienced before. It made me, well… allowed me, to sit back and gain perspective. I was no longer the focal point of the class. I had student managers who daily took control of introducing content, regulated the speed and flow of information, and worked collaboratively with other members of the class to set goals and plan next steps.
At times, I felt like a un-teacher.
This brought on the feelings of being uncomfortable.
I saw plenty of raised brows when I shared my ideas and teaching style with my colleagues. Sure, it appeared as if I wasn’t doing as much as before but in fact, I was more stressed out than ever, was keeping track of and providing more formative feedback than ever before, and saw students who felt as though they had nothing to offer, suddenly develop creative ideas like never before. I felt like I was teaching skills and design, not business. Yet the students were continuing to score well on periodic quizzes and tests.
After the project was finished, I felt a sense of emptiness for a while. In the end, I had to cut the actual task early but not before I had learned some valuable lessons.
- I will do this again… with a different business. The radio show was not the right answer for a student business. Unreliable internet connections, proofreading content, and lack of access to quality recording space were issues with the current model and I’m sure another option exists with better opportunities.
- Most students want to earn your trust and are looking for more opportunities to lead and prove to you they are capable of great things.
- I’m aware of the swelling interest level of the faculty in my own school. While I haven’t been as active on social media as I would have liked, I have been active in my own community though mentoring other teachers interested in similar models.
So where does this take me now. Is my action plan of the un-teacher finished? Definitely not. Even during this process I began another adventure into design thinking and took some PD with the Future Design school on developing young entrepreneurs. My big takeaway is that there is now one-model-fits all for every school, every class. That all ideas need tweaking, and that while this model may have had a lot of bumps in the road… I see real value in empowering kids to take turns behind the other side of the desk.
You’ve come away from your Cohort 21 year with a number of valuable experiences and insights from which we can all benefit. Sometimes it takes looking at a lesson plan through a new lens (design thinking) or perspective (student as teacher) to see where we can improve and enhance the learning experience for our students (and colleagues). You action plan captures this elegantly. You have added your voice to the chorus of change at our school and here at CIS Cohort 21 and I am thrilled that you feel you have found your ‘tribe’ here. This is just the beginning…
“Sure, it appeared as if I wasn’t doing as much as before but in fact, I was more stressed out than ever, was keeping track of and providing more formative feedback than ever before…”
This resonated so much with me, Andrew. I tried new approaches as well in my classroom this year, which made me feel less ‘sage on the stage’. In one way, it relieved me of the intense pressure to perform what I previously thought were very teacherly duties (i.e. knowing all the answers, planning every move). However, it opened me up to exactly what you mentioned – a lot more formative assessment. And this was richer, more frequent and delivered in real time.
Kudos for letting go of the reins. Your ideas for next year, as I discovered in our last F2F session, sound very fruitful!