October 13th Panel

So this post is a bit delayed, but I want to make it anyways. On October 13th, two administrators, one from the Decorah High School and one from the Decorah Middle School, came to talk to our class. I really thought they had interesting perspectives to communicate and I'm glad they came. I especially liked how they described "good teaching." Here are some things they said good teaching was: kids actively involved in class and know what they are learning; teachers facilitators, and are intentional and preplanned about what they are doing; teaching is about reaching all learners, not trying to fit students to bell curves; teachers are centered on the concepts of differentiation and individualism; and a connection with the kids-kids must know that the teachers care about them.

When we become teachers, we will need to know how to work with the administration, so I am glad that we had a chance to get to know the kinds of views an administrator would have. I was actually kind of surprised that they did not call No Child Left Behind bad. However, they didn't seem to wholeheartedly support it either. I am guessing that their view is that since NCLB is here and we need to comply with it, there is no use dissing it. But they would probably appreciate some changes to it.