If you have read anything about me, then you know that this year I am starting a new teaching position in my school district. I am embarking on the journey of teaching our gifted program, which we call Bright Ideas. So, if I say the words Bright Ideas I am referring to the program, not necessarily my superior ideas. Let me give you a little background information on Bright Ideas. Bright Ideas is our gifted/talented program for students in the district. Currently, I will be servicing kindergarten through 8th grade students. Each student attends Bright Ideas for one entire day of the week. You might be thinking at this point "Holy Moly, you are going to be teaching five through 14 year old kiddos"! Or maybe your thoughts are a little like, "How can you plan for 5 different days a week?" I have asked myself a lot of those same questions when preparing myself to take over teaching this program. Now the amazing thing about this teaching this program is the amount of freedom I have to explore with my students, but sometimes with freedom comes difficulty. I don't have a curriculum to follow. I don't have a team of teachers to plan with. I don't have common assessments or standards or rubrics from which to gather ideas. This can make it a little scary and disjointed to undertake. As I have been planning and reflecting on how I am going to tackle this year, I started to think a lot about track and field. I don't mean the physical, actual high school sport of track and field, I am talking about the 1983 Konami arcade version. Naturally with the Olympics currently in full swing, I couldn't help but connect my thoughts to this Olympic themed masterpiece. First, let me give you a little background information on the arcade game if you are not familiar. As I stated above, Track and Field was released by Konami in 1983 as an Olympic themed game. As a player you have an overwhelming three buttons to choose from when competing in six different events. The player can choose from two run buttons and one jump button. The events your athlete must progress through in order to complete the game are: 100 meter dash, long jump, javelin, 110 meter hurdles, hammer throw, and the ever tricky high jump. In each event there is a qualifying time one must reach in order to move forward to the next event. The goal is to accomplish qualifying scores in all six events with the highest score at the end. Seems fairly simple right, and probably not at all related to education. Keep reading and I promise it will come together! When I think about how Konami's Track and Field relates to my new journey as the Bright Ideas teacher, I immediately consider the six different events in the game. I will be working with eight different grade levels of students, and each of those grade levels is going to come with its own challenges and strengths. Some groups may excel in one area, while others struggle with it. Certain skills like teamwork, communication and collaboration might be more difficult for some ages than for others. Each day and each new group of students is like a new event for me. When you are playing track and field you start with the 100 meter dash. This race requires you to only use your two run buttons, which you must hit back and forth as fast as possible. Upon qualifying in the 100 meter dash, your player immediately moves onto the long jump, which now requires running as well as the addition of a well timed hit of the jump button. As a player, you may excel when it comes to mashing your two run buttons, but timing the jump button is a struggle. Will you just quit on the second event because it is different? Nope! You will adapt your strategies, you will practice your timing, and create a new approach! In my Bright Ideas classes, I might have to take a new approach each day, but my goals will remain the same, just like it each event, to qualify!
How can this apply to regular classroom teachers? Sure, for a secondary education teacher this seems to fit easily. Each class is different and your strategy needs to change in order to adapt to the dynamics of that class, but what about elementary teachers. Their class stays the same for the entire year! I can tell you, I taught elementary and no two days were ever the same, and really they shouldn't be. In an elementary classroom you might compete in six different events in one day. One of your students might be a high hurdle master while the rest are more of the high jump type. You'll find that you need to use all three buttons in multiple combinations each and every day. Trying the same strategy over and over for different events won't work, just like trying the same strategies for different kiddos over and over won't work. If you want your students to qualify, and I know that we all do, it is time to mix it up and level up our teaching strategies. Try a new approach and throw the buttons out the window. Run outside the lanes and design new tools to jump higher over the bar! I challenge you to level up your approach this year in order to meet the needs of all our little Olympians as they embark on quite the marathon this year! Cheat Codes: EDKRADA-Each New Kiddo Requires A Different Approach LUYSFAGM- Level Up Your Strategies For A Gold Medal ESDTBOTP- Every Student Deserves To Be On The Podium DBATROTL- Don't Be Afraid To Run Outside The Lanes
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I went on an adventure two weeks ago! An adventure that took me to the countries of Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland and France. An adventure that broadened my view of the world and taught me lessons about people. An adventure that leveled up my life and one that I can't wait to bring to my students this year. I gained invaluable XP that will allow me to expand the worlds of my students beyond their classrooms, neighborhoods and cities. What would a trip around the world be if i didn't use its lessons to help level up the lives of my students? I want to talk about how the experiences I had halfway around the world can translate into ways to take risks in your classroom, connect your students to the world, and be daring as an educator! Also, throughout this post please forgive the abundance of pictures. They are too beautiful not to share and I promise they will help you understand how to level up. That right there above is the Domturm in Frankfurt, Germany. Basically its the tallest church around, 368 steps to the top to be exact. I know this because I climbed the 368 steps to the top. Now, this may not seem the like the biggest risk to some, but let me explain. From the bottom, before beginning the climb, there are a lot of questions that go through your head. How tired is this going to make me? What if it sways at the top with the wind? After climbing 368 stairs, will it really be worth it? It is hard to put yourself into a situation where the end goal is unknown. I didn't know how long it would take to climb these stairs. I didn't know the condition of the stairs or what it would be like at the top, but I took the risk anyway. It is like the beginning of the school year for teachers. You don't where the year is going to take you. You are not sure how the conditions in your classroom will be or what the view will look like at the end, but it shouldn't stop you from taking the risks throughout the year. If you don't, you may never get a view like this. I had the privilege of meeting many amazing people while traveling in Europe. I'll admit I was nervous about meeting people. Would they speak English? Would they be accepting to an American who couldn't speak more than 20 words in their language? Would they make an effort to get to know me? I was blown away by the acceptance, welcoming and grace these now new friends of mine showed towards me during my visit. They taught me new words. They introduced me to new foods. They brought me to castles and told me about history. These connections I have forged will forever change my life and my view of the world. It also helped me to realize how important these types of connections are for my students. Think about the things our kiddos will miss out on if they don't have the opportunity to connect with people around the world. We must work to provide these opportunities for students, and then teach them how to seek out connections themselves. I realized during this trip how much I don't know about the world. There are so many things that I am not capable of teaching my students because I am not the keeper of all knowledge. By teaching them how to connect globally we are opening up infinite doors of information. Finally, Europe taught me to be daring. During my visit I had the joy of exploring of number of castles. This was a highlight for me, since there are no castles in the states and I love the historical importance of them.. The knights and lords and kings that built these castles were the epitome of daring. The looked for the tallest hills with the best views. They built the largest and strongest structures around. They were daring. These castles were built to be the best, to impressive and withstand anything. Why don't we teach and learn like that? Encourage students to find their tallest hill and build their tallest tower! Let them know it is okay to be strong and encourage them to be daring in all that they do. They are the kings and knights of our schools and we should empower them to build castles.
Cheat Codes: CTTT-Climb The Tallest Towers TRABD-Take Risks And Be Daring CGCFYS-Create Global Connections For Your Students |
AuthorGreetings Readers! My name is Taylor Arehart and I am a 6th year Educator in Excelsior Springs, MO. I have taught 3rd, 4th and gifted and talented, but now I am beginning a new adventure as an Instructional Coach. I have a huge passion for transforming education and giving students the 21st century skills they need to rock the world. I am writing about my journey of leveling up! Leveling up means to constantly look for ways to improve in teaching, learning and living. This means in the classroom with my students as well as in other areas of my life. I hope you enjoy reading about my journey (and my students' journeys) to reach our highest levels and rattle the stars! Archives
October 2017
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