Commitment to Students

Members are dedicated in their care and commitment to students. They treat students equitably and with respect and are sensitive to factors that influence individual student learning. Members facilitate the development of students as contributing citizens of Canadian society. 

- Ontario College of Teachers "Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession"

For this section I have decided to outline my 3 major commitments to students in the classroom which I will always stand by:

Commitment #1 - No student is EVER left behind

I firmly believe that every student is a priority and that no one should ever, ever be left behind. Even when it feels like a losing battle, there must be no surrender on the part of the teacher. 

"Teaching Fairly in an Unfair World" by Kathleen Gold Lundy has almost limitless resources for integrating the arts into the curriculum in creative ways that help promote inclusion in diverse classrooms. I am excited to put some of these ideas to work and adapt them for my classroom's needs.

The below pictures are an illustration of how my commitment of never leaving a student behind comes from listening carefully, not only to what students say verbally, but also listening carefully to the silence of students and what that silence might represent. This student with autism who spoke very little in the classroom used an art/technology assignment (which was to create an innovative new technology) to express their need to be heard in the classroom. "A friend to talk some questions with...a pencil that can write what you say itself.) In the classroom, we were able to use this assignment as an "aha" moment where the student not only identifies a personal need, but the potential solution of using technology to fulfill that need. From this point on, we used iPads, and technological assistive devices which allowed this student to find her voice. 

Commitment #2 - "Start Where They Are"

To steal the title of Karen Hume's book, I want to underline the commitment I have to

empathic classrooms where both students and teachers recognize the gifts of each other, and are compassionate for the inevitable struggles. I have been in the students shoes and know how tough it can be when adversity hits. "Start Where They Are: Differentiating for Success with the Young Adolescent"  has been a useful resource for helping me in this commitment to students. When you don't have the answer as a teacher, that means someone else does. It is incumbent on each teacher to have resources  such as this one on hand and being willing to collaborate. The model below is a helpful reminder of what I am trying to accomplish as a teacher, and how I want to go about it.

Karen Hume's Framework for to Success for Every Student

Commitment # 3 ∞ Never Stop Learning 'With'

This is my mantra and it came from an experience I had teaching grade 8 algebra. I was nervous before the lesson because it was my first time teaching algerba to a group of brainy grade 8's. I was ready to go however and my 3-part lesson was carefully prepared. We would have a short time of "activating prior knowledge and then the students would work on a problem, and finally we would share our various ways of solving it as a class on the board. The "Minds-on" went very well, so did the "action" part, so we transitioned to the consolidation. Then I knew I was in trouble. I was prepared, but my mind went blank. I was trying to graph the equation the students had given me, but I chose a poor scale for my axes, and the graph was a mess. I was ready to give up; to throw in the towel and tell the students we would have to come back to this problem later. In my head however, I realized that by doing this, I was teaching the students to give-up when the going got tough. All of the sudden the lesson wasn't about graphing an equation, it was about perseverance  and we were all the learners. We were going to conquer this problem and we were going to do it together. I asked the students what they thought we should do to fix the graph, and they suggested we change the scale, extend our table of values, and plot additional points on the graph. Within minutes we were back on track, and it was one of the most successful math lessons I had ever taught. It was also incredibly liberating to know the students "had my back." I didn't need to be an expert, I needed to be a motivator. I didn't need to have the answer, I needed to let them ask questions. Reflecting on this lesson, my teaching philosophy was born: 

∞Never Stop Learning 'With'∞