Brian Crosby has really broken out of the 20th century.The kids in his class come with all the common excuses we teachers use for not getting them to grow and produce. His style seems to be close to over flowing energy and a killer sense of humor. He knows what he is up against, but still holds high expectations. He makes it easy on himself, though. He seems connected and thoroughly prepared. He has the vision and knowledge to put it all together.
I have usually underestimated vision when it comes to leadership. Think about following someone with and someone else without vision. What was your reaction?
You can get through a week preparing day-today. But it can be really stressful. It is much easier to have a whole unit or year well thought out with the "table set". Wouldn't you just love to sit and talk planning with Mr. Crosby? Is he UbD? Is he parts to whole? What is his method? As Linda wrote about, he must have built them up over the years.
Ok - one obvious help to move forward would for every kid to have a laptop/device. But will we be ready to make the most of it when it happens? It is a matter of time. What will be our excuses then?
Some of the things I have always struggled with as a math teacher are interdisciplinary units or project based units in my classes. Maybe it is because I really haven't seen it done (well) nor have I taken the time to really research a way it could work for me. With math being so "black and white" how does that work? How do the "basics" still fit into the picture?
ReplyDeleteI do like what you said about having the year well thought out without the table set. Is that easier to do in other subject areas and math is different? I still need to focus on what I do this year, but in the back of my mind is the new program we will be adopting and I'm hoping that less is better! With "less" will I be able to do "more!?"