Tag: Teaching

Emotionally Connected Educators

In our current global situation of quarantining at home and learning virtually, the most essential skill to educating students is vulnerability. Our current situation is one that has not happened before and makes educators and students feel afraid, stressed, and anxious. Educators often feel the need to seem like they have it all together so student’s will not know they are afraid or anxious. I once heard a presenter say that educators should leave their problems in the car when arriving at school so that student’s will not see them struggle but students learn from what is modeled and if educators model apathy then students will not learn how to deal with their emotions. David Brooks recently wrote an article titled “Student Learn From People They Love” (source). He states that if teachers show vulnerability, students will be able to connect with them on a personal level and will thus learn more from them as an educator because they have connected emotionally. Brooks states that an older view of educators is that “if you wanted to be rational and think well, you had to suppress those primitive gremlins, the emotions. Teaching consisted of dispassionately downloading knowledge into students’ brains” (source). However, in our current situation, we have seen numerous stories of teachers heroically overcoming so much in order to passionately care for and educate their students. Brooks discusses various research but concludes with the realization that “what teachers really teach is themselves — their contagious passion for their subjects and students. It reminded us that children learn from people they love, and that love in this context means willing the good of another, and offering active care for the whole person” (source). An educator’s vulnerability helps students feel connected and encourages them to learn. Students can also interact with each other through the same type of vulnerability. This type of teaching and learning has been named social emotional learning. Click here to read the entire article by David Brooks. 

Next Steps

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information. 

References:

Image source, The New York Times

All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above. 

@hollandkaylah

Google’s Teach from Home Supports Virtual Learning

Google for Education has announced the creation of a program to help support parents and educators teaching from home. The current global pandemic has caused schools around the world to close for in person instruction and almost instantly create lessons to be delivered virtually. Google’s Teach from Home program includes training materials for educators, schools, and parents including collaborating with educators, students, and families virtually, keeping students engaged, providing accessibility in lessons, managing virtual classrooms and much more. Teach from Home also provides weekly webinars, peer communities, and regular office hours to offer instant support for educators and families. Click here to access Google’s Teach from Home program. 

References:

Image source, Google’s Teach from Home

All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above. 

@hollandkaylah

Things Teachers Wish People Understood About Teaching


Image Source: Jamie Santos

“Once your student always your student. I have students who were 8 years old 17 years ago and are now 25, and I still worry about them, celebrate their successes, and pray for their futures. Always my kids, always. #TeacherTalkTuesday.” – Dr. Adam D. Drummond

There are many misconceptions about what it’s like to be a teacher. Jamie Santos shares some of the highlights from when Chasten Buttigieg reached out to fellow educators on Twitter to see what they wished other people understood about the teaching profession.

Benefits in Explaining One’s Math Thinking


"It’s hard to get kids in the habit of talking about how they are thinking about a problem when they’ve had many years of instruction that focused on getting the 'right answer.' That’s why educators are now trying to get students in the habit of explaining their thinking at a young age." — Source: Mind/Shift

Continue reading the full post for examples, tips, and classroom video footage.

Image Source: EdTechTeacher

Making Micro-Credentials Matter

Here’s another post about micro-credentials that I enjoyed reading. Here are a few highlights.

“Badges, certifications, skill identifiers–you’ve probably seen micro-credentials in one digital form or another. But how do we know whether they actually matter in the real world?” How can we “get micro-credentials to the point where they’re valued as evidence of what adults have learned and can do.”

Here are a few of their suggestions.

  1. Keep time and autonomy sacred
  2. Badging platforms need to talk to one another
  3. Micro-credentialing should target the process, not just the end

I recommend reading the full post as it tackles many of the tougher issues around micro-credentialing.

Source: EdSurge