I Love you Tom
I do not remember the last time I have read something as moving and as powerful as the introduction to Tom Rademacher's book. If you think I'm being dramatic, I'm not.
Day after day we have slogged through countless theoretical readings from the aforementioned "white-haired dudes with PhDs" with seemingly no end in sight. These readings, while informative and certainly telling of a dedication to betterment of the educational environment, have oftentimes seemed disconnected from any practical application. I have written about this phenomenon before, specifically in my final for CI 5441 (which I incidentally did not do too well on) - I can have all the theory I want shoved down my gullet, but at the end of the day it is my lived experiences and my human to human interactions that are going to define me in the classroom. Tom is right here - students aren't gonna care if I'm super articulate and effective teaching them about the intricacies of Shakespearian dramas, and other stuff of the like. School is, in the grand scheme of things, unimportant. What is going to matter to students is not what we teach them, but how we make them feel. There will be plenty of students like "Student 2" in our classrooms. We cannot ignore them in favor of the "good" students. I cannot stress this enough.
After reading this introduction, I'd like nothing more than to drop everything and read the rest of Tom's book. This excerpt, although small, has been arguably the biggest breath of fresh air since about May. It's easy to get lost in all the readings and assignments and dread the future, as at times it looks like it is shaping up to be a hyper-academic wasteland where the only method of success lies in meticulous pour-overs of published doctorate authors. I know that teaching isn't that dark of a prospect, but a lot of the time it seems as if the joy is certainly beat out of it in favor of so-called "proven" educational practices.
I could go on forever about this, but I won't - instead, I'd like to ask, at this point, what can we do to keep the joy in our practices? How do we not let the pressure bog us down in our future prospective teaching careers? Do we hold on to all of this theory, or do we throw it out the window?
For my resource this week, I want to link to something that is true to my beliefs insofar that we all must maintain some sense of "real-ness" about us - that is, we have to be real people before we can become a figure that students can trust and learn from. Much of this involves staying up-to-date and current with the world/country's happenings, and I believe a quality view on the world can stem from quality journalism. I'll share two sites here which I believe deal heavily in both entertainment and cultural competency. The first of which is The Ringer, which is mainly a sports journalism site but also features pieces on pop-culture, current news, and other topics that readers may find interesting. The other is The Undefeated, which is an ESPN subsidiary that abides by these same journalistic values. Each of these sites allow their writers to write with voice and passion, and taking a break from the serious grit and grind of academic life is crucial in maintaining a sense of self and purpose.
Day after day we have slogged through countless theoretical readings from the aforementioned "white-haired dudes with PhDs" with seemingly no end in sight. These readings, while informative and certainly telling of a dedication to betterment of the educational environment, have oftentimes seemed disconnected from any practical application. I have written about this phenomenon before, specifically in my final for CI 5441 (which I incidentally did not do too well on) - I can have all the theory I want shoved down my gullet, but at the end of the day it is my lived experiences and my human to human interactions that are going to define me in the classroom. Tom is right here - students aren't gonna care if I'm super articulate and effective teaching them about the intricacies of Shakespearian dramas, and other stuff of the like. School is, in the grand scheme of things, unimportant. What is going to matter to students is not what we teach them, but how we make them feel. There will be plenty of students like "Student 2" in our classrooms. We cannot ignore them in favor of the "good" students. I cannot stress this enough.
After reading this introduction, I'd like nothing more than to drop everything and read the rest of Tom's book. This excerpt, although small, has been arguably the biggest breath of fresh air since about May. It's easy to get lost in all the readings and assignments and dread the future, as at times it looks like it is shaping up to be a hyper-academic wasteland where the only method of success lies in meticulous pour-overs of published doctorate authors. I know that teaching isn't that dark of a prospect, but a lot of the time it seems as if the joy is certainly beat out of it in favor of so-called "proven" educational practices.
I could go on forever about this, but I won't - instead, I'd like to ask, at this point, what can we do to keep the joy in our practices? How do we not let the pressure bog us down in our future prospective teaching careers? Do we hold on to all of this theory, or do we throw it out the window?
For my resource this week, I want to link to something that is true to my beliefs insofar that we all must maintain some sense of "real-ness" about us - that is, we have to be real people before we can become a figure that students can trust and learn from. Much of this involves staying up-to-date and current with the world/country's happenings, and I believe a quality view on the world can stem from quality journalism. I'll share two sites here which I believe deal heavily in both entertainment and cultural competency. The first of which is The Ringer, which is mainly a sports journalism site but also features pieces on pop-culture, current news, and other topics that readers may find interesting. The other is The Undefeated, which is an ESPN subsidiary that abides by these same journalistic values. Each of these sites allow their writers to write with voice and passion, and taking a break from the serious grit and grind of academic life is crucial in maintaining a sense of self and purpose.
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