We have all heard this… The what is in the standards … the how is up to you This is why I do what I do every day. I love the freedom in taking the standards I need to cover and making them my own, developing lessons and units that meet the needs of my [...]
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Assessment is where I am feeling the least free within the structure we have in our district. Our mandated reading and math assessments are so comprehensive and numerous that to create new, performance based assessments would be counterproductive to student learning. However, my teammates and I enjoying working within the science and social studies curricula [...]
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Be a part of the decision making, planning and development process. That is the best way to feel free within the ever growing structure of local, state and even national curricula. I rarely feel constrained by my district’s curriculum. Mainly because we have so much to do that I don’t have time or energy to [...]
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A few weeks ago, I pledged online through Twitter to “Go Paperless” for Earth Day. Soon after, I told my students about it and they were so excited! They immediately started to offer ideas and suggestions of how we could Go Paperless for an entire day. “We can work on the computers,” said one student. [...]
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I believe classrooms need structure to thrive. Just as our own children need and want structure, rules and boundaries, so do our students. Clear expectations and reliable routines give children the security and predictability to explore, make mistakes and succeed. Constructing and reconstructing routines to meet the needs of my students and management systems that [...]
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There is quite an ongoing debate about the 5 paragraph essay. Is it a good thing to teach? Is it stifling young writers’ creativity? Does it teach real writing? As for me, I started out by loving the 5 paragraph essay: It was predictable, easy to use and so formulaic that I could write a [...]
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What is jazz? It is the ultimate freedom in structure. The goal for me in teaching is to teach as if I were playing jazz. But how? First by finding the structure, and allowing myself to be creative and free. Here is what I mean. Growing up, my piano teacher trained me classically and she [...]
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…When I look at this list, a structure forms. I see how I can organize my thoughts around this broad topic. This organization didn’t come to me at first, as it often does not for my students. They too need the freedom to explore and make their own connections. I, like my students, was given a mission, a goal, an assignment. I know my destination, but the journey is up to me. Freedom in structure…
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One of the best ways to illustrate freedom in structure is in a drum circle. Here, a leader starts by drumming an ostinato or rhythm that is repeated over and over. Then the others in the circle begin to play. Some play alongside the leader, others play their own creations, adding their own creative rhythms. [...]
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