Image Credit: https://www.nrel.gov/workingwithus/partnership-opportunities.html This week I’ve been thinking a lot about teacher autonomy and the joys and challenges that come with it. From where I sit as an instructional coach, I’m constantly seeing examples of how rewarding it can be to have the option to exercise your professional judgement, but also how excruciating it can be for people to make decisions when they don’t feel confident in their knowledge and skills. It’s gotten me thinking about my own teaching experience and how my thinking about autonomy evolved over the years. I had never heard the term, “autonomy” until my first year teaching. It was a pretty big buzzword in my district at the time, and it was spoken with reverence, as a gift, something to treasure. As a 22-year-old who had just graduated, hearing the term had the opposite effect on me than it did my colleagues; it struck fear in my heart. At the time, it meant that I had to...
Photo Credit: goo.gl/R4PcJ2 Copy short URL Because teaching is such a difficult profession, educators and administrators alike are often searching for tools and programs that make teaching easier. On the surface, this seems like a really good idea. Putting effort into easing the stress of teachers has to be good for kids, right? In some cases this proves to be true, but what we choose to simplify makes all the difference. A phrase that really makes me cringe is “why reinvent the wheel?” It’s a phrase that’s usually followed by a hasty Google search, only to bring up something that’s beautifully packaged from Teachers Pay Teachers or Pinterest. For a small fee, we can have an answer at our fingertips; but what are we sacrificing in the meantime? I will proudly state here and now that I am a teacher nerd. The work that many teachers shy away from, I’m first in line to do. You know the stuff - curriculum ...