Here's what I've learned: I HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO LEARN!
The questions in my brain are boiling over and causing me to doubt myself in every aspect of teaching. Here are some questions that I am struggling with now that I have the luxury of time to reflect on my confusion:
- How can I effectively teach in a classroom with diverse populations without compromising standards and test scores?
- Can I be culturally responsive if I don't even recognize my own "invisible" culture that I am silently expecting others to conform to?
- How can it be that some schools get tons of funding but the ones that really need funding go without enough desks and lack teachers because of low pay and furlough days?
- If research can support using high-interest literature in the classroom, why do school districts mandate outdated, culturally irrelevant texts?
- If teachers are supposed to teach students "where they are" but also teach everyone ALL of the information on the test, how does that look?
- Does grammar REALLY matter once you are out of school? I mean, if you know how to use it, does it matter if you know the rules and terminology?
- If students can't read, how can we expect them to reach unrealistic standards on tests mandated by people who don't teach or even KNOW any kids?
- How can I teach students when my boss has a boss who has a boss wants data collection, meeting minutes, lesson plans, test prep, mock testing, and a plethora of other crap that interferes with instructional time? EXPLAIN IT TO ME!!!
So where do I go for these answers? I read enough to answer one question, but I walk away with three new questions? Who has the answer key and why isn't anyone sharing??
