Thursday, September 25, 2008

Diving back into the conversation.

I was left slightly slack-jawed in admiration for Todd when he said he had allowed another teacher to tape his class and use it in a new teacher workshop.
As planned, the camera recorded the first 10 minutes of my Support class yesterday. My good-twin Laurie used it to great effect in her presentation on classroom management. I feel that I have very little during that period and so it would be a good thing for teachers-in-training to see. The critique would be valuable to me because I could try a few things out. A few ideas came of it and I put some to use today and things worked a little better.
That, my friends, is the kind of chutzpah that makes better teachers. The viewers, discussers, and participants all learned something because Todd was willing to put himself on the line.
Of course, it sounds like Todd was tougher on himself than those who saw the video. That's probably the mark of a good teacher: the need to push, to look for places to improve, to not settle.
But Todd, take the props, listen to them, and save them for a rainy day. Knowing you can improve doesn't mean you aren't already pretty excellent.

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