Visit the Inspired Teaching Institute
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The
Inspired Teaching Institute is our flagship teacher-training program,
now celebrating its 13th year in Washington, DC. Join us for a few
hours and meet a group of teachers who are starting a yearlong journey
to improve their practice.
Visitor dates are: July 9-17. Visiting hours are 10-2.
The Institute is located at
Georgetown Day School Upper School campus, 4200 Davenport St., NW
Washington, DC.
RSVP to Kristen Boswell. |
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Center for Inspired Teaching is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that exists to ensure schools make the most of children's innate desire to learn. We do this by investing in teachers. Please visit our website to learn more about our philosophy, programs, and results.
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Inspired Teaching Alumni Conference
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Save this Date:
August 18, 2008
Alumni of the Inspired Teaching Institute are invited to join us for a day of rejuvenation before the 2008-09 school year begins. Now in its third year, this annual conference is designed to reconnect our alumni and reinvigorate Inspired Teachers so they are ready to jump into another successful year.
This year's conference will be held at the Washington Ethical Society
7750 16th St. NW
Washington, DC 20012
The conference runs from 8:30 am to 3 pm and breakfast and lunch will be served.
The Inspired Teaching Alumni Conference is free to alumni.
RSVP to Griffin or Jenna Fournel 202.462.1956
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Becoming Inspired: Step 3
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This week we continue our study of the Five Step Process educators are currently experiencing at the Inspired Teaching Institute. The process leads participants towards the goal of achieving their full potential as Inspired Teachers.
Last week we talked about Step 2: Articulate and defend my philosophy of teaching and learning, including what I believe about children. This week we move to:
Step 3: Make the connection to classroom practice - develop new strategies to
make sure my philosophy of teaching and learning matches what I do in
the classroom.
Much of education today is monumentally ineffective.
All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. -John W. Gardner
How annoying is it when you're driving behind a car plastered with "Save the Earth" stickers and you see the driver throw trash out the window? Or how about when politicians make campaign promises they contradict or never deliver on - when elected?
Well as teachers we're not immune to our own acts of hypocrisy and they usually originate with philosophy statements like the one you thought about last week. Like politicians, we start out with firmly stated beliefs - but when it comes to acting on those beliefs we often fall short on our promises.
How far have you strayed from your philosophy? Think about a lesson you taught this year and then think about each element of your philosophy. Ask yourself if this lesson makes room for these beliefs.
For example, given Inspired Teaching's philosophy, these are some of the questions we would explore when looking at a lesson:
- Does this lesson engage students' imaginations?
- What meaningful choices are children invited to make during this lesson?
- How does this lesson make room for student voice?
- Are the goals of this lesson relevant to students' lives now?
- Does this lesson engage students physically?
- Does this lesson allow students to make connections across days, weeks, or longer?
- Does the level of intellectual challenge in this lesson communicate high expectations for students?
When you find gaps between your philosophy and your practice, these should serve as red flags for you and opportunities to reflect on why these gaps occurred.
For example: You believe student voice is important in the classroom but your lessons are primarily teacher-directed and lecture-based. To get to the root of this disconnect, begin asking questions:
- Are you overwhelmed by the amount of material you have to teach so you rely on lecture to efficiently expose students to everything?
- Are you following the lesson model practiced by your peers?
- Are you afraid students will run away with the class if you give them more responsibility for learning the material?
- Are you unsure of what other instructional approaches you could use besides lecture?
Your answers to these exploratory questions will ultimately reveal some direction for bringing your practice back around to your philosophy. For instance, If you realize that you're going against your beliefs because you lack the tools to put them into practice - you can seek out professional development opportunities that will expand your teaching toolkit. Or, if you realize you're afraid to try something new because nobody else in your building is doing so - look for allies outside the building who can support your efforts. These might be other teachers, or they might be articles and research that validate the importance of your new approach. Both can also give you helpful strategies for implementation.
Step 3 in the Inspired Teaching process is often the hardest of all because it requires you to be extremely honest with yourself as an educator. You might find that you've buried your teaching philosophy in the back of a closet on purpose. You might be overwhelmed by the distance between your beliefs about what teaching and learning should look like, and the reality in your classroom. But with time, effort, and help you can turn your classroom into what you believe it should be. When you do, you will reconnect with the joys of teaching and your students will reap the benefits.
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Online Supports for Teachers
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Center for Inspired Teaching aspires to be your greatest support in the classroom. We are here to help you find answers to your questions and to provide a community of like-minded educators who are also engaged in the difficult but exhilarating process of reaching their full potential. But there are also a variety of support services available online that can give you access to more resources and ideas for your growing teacher toolkit.
Google for Educators
Google
has a site just for educators with well explained links to various
Google resources as well as chatboards for teachers and a blog by and
for educators.
Council for Exceptional Children
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is dedicated to special education and special educators. It is an advocacy organization that works to change and establish policies that improve the lives of students with exceptionalities. This particular page of their site offers resources and supports for special education teachers.
Teacher Chatboards
This page is a product of Teachers.net and provides over 100 chatboards differentiated by grade level, subject area, job title, etc. You can find the group you want to chat with and jump right in. There's no fee to participate and you can do so without any sort of registration. If you have an idea you want to bounce off teachers in your subject area or grade level this might be a good place to start.
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