If I was back in the classroom, things would be different.

I have to admit that if I was back in the classroom, I would teach a whole lot differently. As I sit here an reflect on my teaching practices, I don't think I was very effective and I don't think that I engaged my students very well. After 8 years in an administrative position, I think it is time for me to list a few things that I would do differently if I were in a classroom again. I would welcome your thoughts as well.

Visit other teachers classrooms and be a fly on the wall

I never sat in on other teacher's classes when I was a classroom teacher and I can honestly say it was one of the biggest mistakes I made. As an administrator, I am constantly doing walkthroughs and I get to see awesome teachers doing awesome things. I get to see cool teaching strategies that would have been applicable to my classroom, but I wasn't aware of them because I didn't get out of my bubble. The fact of the matter is that the best professional development for teachers is right in their own buildings and probably happening right next door. I always said I never had time to go visit other teacher's classrooms because I had too much on my plate. If I could go back and slap my 23-year old self in the face, I would. I would tell myself that you have to make time to get in other teacher's classrooms and learn what they are doing.

Twitter

Twitter wasn't around when I was in the classroom, but if it was, I would be using it. As a former English teacher, I think this is one of the most powerful tools available for getting students to write in a clear and concise manner. I would scrap the big, long research papers and focus on writing in chunks. Teaching students how to write effective sentences would eventually lead longer essays. Additionally, creating a trend for my classroom where students could post their thoughts would create easy ways for students to stay engaged while my class was going on.

Blogging

As I sit here writing my own blog, I am discovering how powerful this tool can be for students. They all have their opinions, expect them to put it in writing instead of just voicing it. Additionally, blogging creates a portfolio that students can take with them no matter where they go. Students need to be taught that their thoughts matter and blogging provides a great way for them to do so. Ideally, if my school were a 1:1 school, blogging would be my opening activity for every class session.

Go paperless

I can't even begin to think about how many pieces of paper have gone through my hands, how many comments I wrote in red ink, or how many times I returned a paper to a student because they still had work to do and they needed to print off a fresh new copy with revisions. WHAT A WASTE! Technology has advanced so far that the thought of doing what I once did is preposterous. Technology like Google Docs would allow me to work with students in a virtual environment where the writing PROCESS can truly take place. I still engage in dialogue with folks who think that going paperless is a pipe dream and that nothing replaces the feel of paper in a hard copy format. What many people don't understand is that paper and printing cost a lot of money. As a principal, I see how much gets spent on a yearly basis buying paper and paying printing costs. Ultimately, I would go paperless in almost everything if it meant that it wasn't going to cost me money that I could spend on my students instead.

Ongoing formative assessment

I didn't formatively assess my students nearly as much as I should have. I remember going to professional development sessions and saying to those around me that I did, but the truth of the matter is that I didn't do it enough. I have had the opportunity as an administrator to see AMAZING teachers do phenomenal things with formative assessments and really help students grow in their learning. When I was in the classroom, I think I was too hung up on making sure that a certain amount of content was covered before the end of the year to validate to my administrator that I was doing my job correctly. Now, I am in the role of administrator and I think that others are doing this to me. The fact of the matter is that if I was back in the classroom, I would formatively assess my students every day to see where they are at in understanding the material and then go home that night and plan my next day's lesson accordingly. This is so much more meaningful because it is about the student's LEARNING the content rather than letting the content dictate the timeline of the course.

Make my course relevant
I have to be honest in saying that I may have failed my students in this particular area. For any of my former students that are reading this, I apologize sincerely. I taught English like my high school teachers taught me. Of course, I made tweaks here and there to fit my style, but nothing earth shattering. Fortunately for me and my students, I had great teachers growing up. Please understand that I don't feel that I failed my students in terms of content. I followed the curriculum guides and taught the state standards. This I am certain of. Where I failed my students was in making the content of the curriculum RELEVANT to them and their future interests. I never looked at a career interest inventory to find out if the literature that was being discussed in my English class even remotely matched what their career interests were. All I knew was that my kids were going to read the classics (Romeo & Juliet, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, Julius Caesar, Of Mice and Men, etc. etc. etc.). I complained to my colleagues that students just didn't read anymore, didn't take responsibility for their own education, didn't do their homework. In hindsight, I would tell myself to make my class more engaging and relevant. Do a little more work and find out what makes your students tick rather than just blindly teach the curriculum in the same way that it was taught to you. I would tell myself to work smarter and not harder. I would tell myself to work DIFFERENT because at the end of the day, students will work hard if it is relevant.