My Portfolio

            There is a fine line in teaching. It falls somewhere between providing a tightly structured environment and curriculum and allowing students enough freedom to explore their creative impulses.  Every teacher’s dilemma is providing sufficient structure without stifling inspiration, imagination, or originality. I will not pretend that I am an authority on where this fine line lies in the classroom. Every classroom is different and the fine line is, if nothing else, shifting in nature. In his wonderful book The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery talks often about grown-ups (for my purposes I read teachers) and how they sometimes forget to take account of what is truly important (1943, p. 10).  Saint-Exupery teaches us that the fine line is pushed toward limiting interests while tragically ignoring what truly makes life and this world most exciting. There are truly many fine lines to walk in teaching. Not wanting to ever forget the influence teachers have on the lives of children, my philosophy of teaching is to walk the fine line of educating for democracy, providing authentic learning experiences, and inspiring my students to plan and conduct meaningful inquiry.  

Educating for Democracy 

            I will rely on democratic principles as guidelines for a successful classroom. Educating for democracy requires a level of authority and order while at the same time it encourages participation for students in the classroom. The fine line here is that that there is always a tension between authority and freedom. Roger Soder offers twelve conditions for democracy in Education for Democracy: The Foundation for Democratic Character. These conditions include “trust, exchange, social capital, respect for equal justice under the law, respect for civil discourse, recognition of the need for E Pluribus Unum, free and open inquiry, knowledge of rights, freedom, recognition of the tension between freedom and order, recognition of the difference between a persuaded audience and a more thoughtful audience, and ecological understanding” (Soder, Goodlad, & McMannon, 2001, p. 195-198). All of these conditions for democracy have relevance in the classroom. But as I address them for use in the classroom, I will focus on four democratic principles found within these concepts: participation, trust, respect, and responsibility.

            Again there is often a fine line or as Soder puts it “a difference between a persuaded audience and a more thoughtful audience” in the classroom (Soder, Goodlad, & McMannon, 2001, p. 197).  Participation in the classroom is dependent on getting students actively involved in learning. Not just as independent learners but as cooperative learners, where the classroom becomes an open and inviting laboratory for sharing ideas and developing skills. Every student has strengths and weaknesses.  If students are shown how to use their mastered skills to help other class members become more proficient, then the cooperative classroom functions properly under the democratic principle of participation. A threat free and more thoughtful classroom benefits all of it members by assisting each member to learn and develop new skills. 

            Trust and respect are closely related and by nature reciprocating classroom principles. Trust and respect are essential for social development within a democracy. In fact, these values are foundational for any loving classroom because once accepted they are then expected. For sure trusting and respectful relationships are worthy goals, however, they can be difficult to maintain. As Soder recognized, there is this “tension between freedom and order” (Soder, Goodlad, & McMannon, 2001, p. 197). Expectations should always hold students to their full potential.  However, as often will happen mistakes are made, then what?  For sure there are consequences, but are they always necessary? Maybe the most difficult of all concepts for teachers and students to come to terms with is forgiveness. Soder argues, and I agree that once trust has been violated, there must be a willingness to help the violator recover the offended person’s trust and respect (2001). A democratic classroom teaches second chances and more to help students overcome the trials of learning in a democratic community.

           Responsibility is attention to duty and task, but it is more than an individual pursuit. Every child needs to demonstrate individual responsibility to a successful conclusion for building self-esteem, and yet there must be more.   Just as important, responsibility builds the community because we are all accountable to ourselves and to those in our classroom community.  Soder might call this “social capital” (Soder, Goodlad, & McMannon, 2001, p. 191) or being invested in the learning community while learning together. For teachers and students alike, we owe it to ourselves to do our best, and we should give our maximum effort in helping others meet the challenges that come their way. By way of example, responsibility then becomes empowerment for helping others improve and become accountable to the learning community.

Authentic Learning Experiences 

           My intentions are to also employ authentic learning experiences whenever possible in my classroom. Taylor and Nolen describe authentic learning experiences as “being similar to performances in life beyond school and as the most effective and valid ways to assess student learning” (2005, p. 152). Many arduous tasks become simplified and are better understood if they are authentic or paralleled as a real life challenge. Another benefit is if they are designed as cooperative projects, these experiences can then teach students how to become better and more effective group members. “Learners of all ages are more motivated when they can see the usefulness of what they are learning and when they can use that information to do something that has an impact on others” (Taylor and Nolen, 2000, p. 61).

           The objective of performance assessments is to make the work meaningful for all of the students. For instance, an addition lesson becomes a shopping trip, a reading task turns into a play, or a writing project challenges students to produce an article for a classroom newspaper.  These performance assessments are also designed to accommodate student with needs by tapping into auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic modalities. The possibilities for these lessons are endless and only limited by a teacher’s imagination and effort to create them within any given curriculum.  As always there is a fine line, the fine line in planning authentic experiences and activities falls between the intentions of connecting students with an experience and boring them as a lesson falters. Most teachers want motivated students, and I support the notion that many children are better stimulated by tasks drawn from events in their everyday world.

           During an introductory math lesson for second graders on telling time, I had a bit of inspiration. It was one of those times when I felt like my lesson was not reaching its targets. I knew that I needed something to give the students a better grasp of the units of time, and how they relate to each other.  I had asked, how long is a year (12 months), a month (about 30 days), a week (7 days), a day (24 hours), a hour (60 minutes), a minute (60 seconds)? What about a second, how long is it? The blank stares said it all. They were not with me. They seemed distant. I thought had lost them.

           Treacherously walking the fine line and in desperation, I asked for a helper. Hands went up, and an eager student was asked to come up to the front of the class. I asked the class, how long do you think it will take this student to tie his shoe? Surprisingly, the range of estimations was anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. I had the student tie his shoe while another student timed him. At this point the class came absolutely alive; everyone wanted to tie their shoe while being timed. I quickly came up with other things that we could time to help them get a sense of time. We timed students walking around the classroom, counting to 100, reading a paragraph, and doing one of our daily math papers. The students started asking each other various time related questions. How long does it take you to walk to school? How long is your bus ride? My point here is that the lesson came to life when it became an authentic performance. I will never forget this moment because it had a profound impact on my future planning.  

Planned and Meaningful Inquiry

            Good teaching strives to produce good thinkers. Facilitating inquiry challenges a teacher’s ability to teach children how to make reasonable arguments, understand facts and ideas, see patterns and relationships, and plan and complete various tasks. Bransford, Brown, & Cocking in “How People Learn” indicate that for students to develop competence in the area of inquiry, “they must have opportunities to learn with understanding.” Once students have built up a basis of factual knowledge, then they a can begin applying it as usable knowledge” (2000, p. 16). The goal of inquiry is to help students understand who they are, what they believe, why they think the way they do, where there may be discrepancies, when they might need more information, and what they can do to come to terms with their knowledge (Bransford and Donovan, 2005). However, all student come to the classroom with preconceived notions, and this must also be dealt with.

           Always there is a fine line and in this case, every student comes to the classroom with schema and notions that work for them and fulfills their worldview.  These preconceptions become starting points for learning and must often be addressed or reconstructed. Engaging student preconceptions draws on the experiences they bring to the classroom. This allows them to rethink what they believe, and it sets a springboard for restructuring that knowledge.            Teaching students to explore metacognitive thinking or address how and why they think something is a baseboard for inquiry. How students approach and take control of their own learning is crucial. While teachers ask students to verbalize and demonstrate their thinking in inquiry based lessons, they should also teach them to have internal conversations questioning if information is consistent, when they need more information, and what they can do to advance their current understanding. Once students have built up a groundwork for inquiry then the primary goal becomes transfer. Transfer is improved as students become aware of how they learn and actively use those learning strategies in other subjects and in life outside of the classroom.

            If I want inquiry to be applicable and meaningful, then my students must be given opportunities to learn with deep understanding. Starting as novices, they need to develop expertise that allows them to see patterns, relationships, or any discrepancies in ideas. Most students are capable of developing toward expertise if they are given the basis for getting there. The grand expectation of using this deeper understanding of information is that they will then transfer it to other subject areas.

           I developed a science unit on human and animal bones along with the kindly guidance of my Cooperating Teacher. We have a unique collection of bones in our classroom. And as children are naturally inquisitive, our students wanted to know all about the bones in their classroom. I used this bones unit to explore the inquiry process for myself and my students. Early lessons were based on (KWL) or what the students knew and what they wanted to know about the bones. The culminating lesson was an assessment of what they had learned about bones and the cycle of science inquiry. This final lesson was a group project and a first time experience for the whole class. They had never participated in this type organized group assignment where everyone had a responsibility. After it was over, I thought the lesson had been a success, but I quickly changed this assessment as one of the students ran up to me with a beaming smile on her face.  She was saying, “Mr. Noble, Mr. Noble, can we do this again? It was fun.” I could not help but smile. I now knew what it was to be a teacher, and why teaching the inquiry process is so important for not just science but all subjects. I had taken a class of novice eager to learn students and motivated them toward becoming experts. Furthermore, I taught them how to work together while doing science inquiry.

           While I am still learning to use the inquiry process, this little girl’s excitement was a fitting end to this learning experience for me.  Nevertheless, I know that I have much more to learn. Bransford et al argues that assessments of student learning must tap deep understanding rather than merely the ability to repeat facts or perform isolated skills (2000). I am again tip-toeing the fine line. With this in mind, I have much to do and learn. In my assessment of teaching the inquiry process, I know that these students are only beginning to explore their potential as inquiry scientist as am I as a teacher.            Another important stage of inquiry is that students be given chances to revise and improve their thinking. In fact, the progression of ideas is crucial to learning. As I repeatedly think back to the bones unit, I know that my students have learned basic skills, but they have yet to develop a deep understand of anything.  The processes of teaching and learning inquiry must continue to be stressed. As students work toward finding out how they learn, what they want to know, and how they can go about getting this information; they then must transfer this knowledge into other areas of life and learning.  

Conclusion 

           Teachers have a tremendous responsibility to students and their families. They are accountable for what is learned, how something is learned, and whatever other challenges enter their classrooms. I take this responsibility seriously. If I may return to the children’s book The Little Prince once again, Saint-Exupery offers this challenging suggestion, “we are responsible for what we have tamed” (1943, p. 64). He further defines taming as creating ties, thinking of others, teaching what is important, and seeing what is essential and not always visible to the eye (Saint-Exupery, 1943). Teachers are responsible for teaching inquiry to those they tame, the learning context of for those they tame, and the learning content for those they tame.  These are not simplistic conceptions. As such, we must recognize that this is a complicated process, and it requires a great deal of time, energy, and contemplation. With this in mind, I endeavor to walk the fine line of educating students for democracy, keeping student performances authentic, and teaching students how to plan and conduct meaningful inquiry. Lastly, if I have tamed anything at this point in my teaching career, I hope it is my own ability to negotiate the fine line of what is known and weighing it against the vast potential and capacity students have for learning more. 

Reference List

Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (2000). How People Lean: Brain, Mind Experience, and School. National Research Council. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C.

Bransford, J.D., & Donovan, M.S. (2005). How Student Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom. National Research Council. The National Academy Press: Washington, D.C.

Saint-Exupery, A.D. (1943). The Little Prince. Harcourt Inc.:New York

Soder, R., Goodlad, J.I., & McMannon T.J. (2001). Developing Democratic Character in the Young. Josey-Bass: San Francisco.

Taylor, C.S. & Nolen, S.B. (2005). Classroom Assessment: Supporting Teaching and Learning in Real Classrooms. Pearson: New Jersey