To Be Honest About Fails and Wins [S1 E19]

Listen…teaching is HARD WORK. We wanted to take an episode to share with you our best success stories as well as our biggest fails. Teachers are human. We hope that this episode will help you remember to celebrate those great moments and not feel so bad about the lessons and times that things just absolutely fall apart.

OUR BIGGEST FAILS

Well…this episode starts with a huge fail for Amanda who found a butter wrapper in her Hydroflask. So there’s that…

MARIE: Too much, too hard, and way too fast.

Marie learned the hard way that sometimes over-planning can backfire. We’ve all been there and we know that pacing and knowing how to space lessons out and learning the delicate balance of pushing kids takes a long time to perfect. If you can relate to her story, we feel you!

AMANDA: Over-investing in the “relationships are all that matters” mentality

Yes, relationships are ESSENTIAL to our teaching practice. Foundational. But her new, inexperienced teacher self didn’t realize that it was still her job to decide what kind of relationship that is and to be intentional about building it around high expectations and strong classroom structure. Amanda wrote about finding the balance between Routines, Rigor, and Relationships last summer and you might find it useful if you’ve caught yourself in a similar situation!

OUR BIGGEST WINS

MARIE: Checking in with kids, FIRST

Marie asked for some sample writing and from there, she used the data from those samples to plan ahead. Simple, but such a HUGE WIN. It’s so easy to get caught up in the school race that slowing down enough to involve students in the process of curriculum building and planning for future lessons has made a huge difference in her room.

AMANDA: A killer Gateway activity

Well, this activity was an alcohol-induced idea, but that might be what makes it so great. To get kids to buy into the real-feel of dystopia and it’s reflections in the real world, Amanda created a HOAX simulation for her students. They drafted a fake letter to students from the district about the new “security” measures that the school will be taking to oversee their cell phone use. This was a big win! Take a look at this activity and others for dystopia here!

We CAN get through the highs and lows of teaching together! Thank you for sharing the Brave New Teaching podcast with other teachers. We hope that you’ll take a moment to leave us a review and let us know how the podcast is helping you as a teacher. See you next week!