Final Essay

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

The course was intense. The course was full of information - things I had not even considered before. The more that I heard during my week at the institute, the more questions I had. I definitely wanted to learn more and share that knowledge with my students. So much of my teaching career had been spent teaching history from a textbook and expecting students to regurgitate the information on a test. How in the world was that meaningful? How was that rigorous? If I was expecting my students to really think and consider the world around them, I would have to bring the world to them. If I wanted them to be deeper thinkers, I would have to give them something to think about.
The challenge for me, though, is to sort and sift through so that I pick the information that is accessible to my middle school students, and applicable not only to the standards I am required to teach, but also relevant to their own lives. I think the curriculum unit that I created (and is definitely in draft form, even as I submit it for this course) is a start away from using the textbook alone. I incorporated other strategies, resources, and techniques into the plan that I'm hopeful will encourage students to debate, discuss, question, and share their thinking. I want them to not only devour the book, but the ideas behind the book and the history behind that as well. I had grand hopes for the unit and for the learning that I took away from the institute, that I now find myself wishing that I had more time.

As teachers, there is so much for us to learn and reflect on and implement, and plan that we somehow are robbed of time to to really gather the learning and experiences that we have and sift through them, compartmentalize them if we must, and rearrange them so that they make the most sense to us and are useful to us. I don't want (and don't plan) for this Institute to be another PD that I can check off my list as a requirement for professional development. I will make the time to share what I have learned with my colleagues and especially my students. It will not be in vain.

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