Making Myself a Better Teacher Episode 1
Joy is a local teacher whom I was following on Twitter. I don't think I even realized she was local when I first started following her. One day she tweeted out an activity she was hosting at the school she worked at the time. I was like, hey that's right down the road I should go. And so I did, with my wife and kids in tow we went. I just really love making these connections.
We haven't talked much in the last few years but when I decided to start this podcast series and I was trying to think of teachers that I would like to chat with I remembered Joy and thought, "Yes, she is a teacher I would like to learn from." So here we are with my first episode.
As I reviewed to the chat I thought I would mark down some of the parts I thought were good.
Around minute 3 we talk about low and high points in education and she really embodies a growth mindset.
Keep those keepsakes, you meant something to your students and those things will remind you in years to come.
Minute 6 what does good teaching look like. Not every student will like you because they have different preferences for types of teachers. It's going to be hectic. I would love if I could learn to help students transition from one activity to another.
Around 10 minutes talk about classroom management strategies. She had an idea for a change to make in her own classroom. A few days later she shared it with me via Twitter.
Thank you to @dendari for helping me name a problem in our ELA class and motivate me to DO something about it! Instead of our class binders in the back of the room, students now grab them when they walk in! 👍(Door deco to celebrate!) #ShiftThis #reflection #justkeeptweaking pic.twitter.com/VL9ycTy8i9— Joy Kirr (@JoyKirr) February 25, 2020
A bit after 15 minutes we talk about why we still teach in classrooms and not with video lectures.
Around 18 minutes I ask her how do you know your successful? Surprise it has nothing to do with grades.
I follow up with an ask about grades near minute 20.
Minute 25 was a really funny quote from a student.
Finally I asked her to share some of her resources.
Here are the resources I curate and share with parents and teachers:
Feedback LiveBinder - tinyurl.com/FeedbackBinder
My own grading explanation - tinyurl.com/ShiftGrading
My own books - shiftthis.weebly.com/
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