The concept of good teaching is subjective. Subjective to the teacher at hand, the students’ opinions, and even the schools expectations. However, at the base of it all I believe we can all agree that good teaching invites deeper thinking, creativity, and success in our students. I think it is also important to point out that good teaching is not only demonstrated through summative assessment because while a class full of students with great grades on their report cards may indicate good teaching, good teaching can also show itself within the learning process each step of the way.
Pre-assessment is just as essential to good teaching as summative assessment. This is because while summative assessment shows what the student has learned, pre-assessment demonstrates the point at which the students are in their learning journey prior to extending into new educational territory. Finding out what our students know prior to engaging in a lesson is important because all students are different: they come from different cultures and backgrounds, they may have attended different schools or had different teachers in previous years, and they certainly have different educational resources available outside of school. All of which indicates a different type of knowledge base when starting a lesson or project in class. Proper pre-assessment will ensure that before beginning new learning each student already has the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to participate fully, as well as a level of engagement that will keep them invested throughout the course of the assignment. Full engagement and understanding will ensure that our students are able to achieve deep learning so that they can use their new knowledge and acquired skills later in life.
From much of the readings I have done so far this block I have found that many educators struggle with the concept of teaching the mandated curricular content as well as ensuring that their students are developing the skills and knowledge necessary for success later in their lives, long after they have left the elementary classroom. While I have not yet run into this problem, I am sure I will because as exhaustion sets in and the weeks begin to blur together during my first few years teaching, I believe it to be possible that I may turn on my autopilot just to ensure my students are gaining access to the required information. However, throughout this program I like to try and figure out ways in which I can get ahead of such potential issues so that I can recognize when they are beginning to occur and already have developed methods of maintaining my focus and staying true to my pedagogy. To set my own intentions on how I would like to see myself maintain such focus throughout this potential conflict two ideas come to mind: always finding time to take care of my own mental and physical health to avoid burnout and to ensure that when completing year plans prior to the beginning of the school year I embed active learning content and notes to remind myself of the whys behind putting the extra effort into my teaching. The first intention is rather self-explanatory, taking care of my mental and physical health will allow me to keep my goals aligned with my teaching practice, therefore always remembering to teach my students in such a way that ensures deep learning. I believe that my second intention, however, will take much more forethought and frontloading, but will yield greater results throughout the course of the school year. By putting great effort into my year and unit plans early on in the school year I will be able to make sure that I have not only covered all of the necessary curricular content but also that I have well-developed ideas and learning activities that will align with my pedagogy and what will work best for the students, while allowing for flexibility to suit the needs of the individual learners in the classroom.