Beg, borrow, steal.
That's the Golden Rule of education, at least as it was taught to me by every professor I encountered in college. Thanks to technology, blogging allows us to beg and borrow (and hopefully not steal) from some of the best and brightest teachers out there. I know it has changed my teaching practices for the better, and I'm hoping to join in on the fun, instead of just being an observer.
I asked myself, "What could I possibly have to offer that hasn't been covered already by these amazing and inspiring teacher-bloggers?"
My first thought? Not much, really. You guys have got it goin' on!
But here I am anyways, ready to jump in and chronicle my own life in 2nd grade. What's my main focus right now? Trying to wrestle with a reading series that relies heavily on workbooks and worksheets when I'm a teacher who believes in inquiry, investigation, and hands-on student involvement. I'm not one to be a downer, so I will say there are many things I love about the series - it's structure, the content, the fact that there is a uniformity about what our students are being taught, etc. But I get that "pit in the stomach" feeling when all I see my students doing is working on worksheets, day in and day out. Not to mention the dread I feel when I collect all that paper back to review. Sigh.
So, after spending the first two quarters getting my feet wet in my new school and wrapping my head around this new reading series, I'm ready to start tackling the project of making it more user-friendly for teachers like me. My challenge is this: keep the content, but change the delivery. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
I'm SO looking forward to having so many expert blogger friends to collaborate with. Hopefully you'll find something useful along the way, too!
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