Combining travel and workshops throughout the past year I've grown excited about the possibilities of creating a safe and nurturing learning community inside my classroom. As 2010 dawns, I feel closer to bringing greater clarity and discipline to my instructional practice. Much of this heightened capacity is due to some great models and mentors I've come across in my travels - inside the professional development classroom and abroad -- as well as to explorations of the bookshelf kind.
I've known for a long time that I needed to devote the great majority of my instructional time to small group instruction and individual student intervention/coaching. I've balked at this knowledge, however, recognizing the real commitment of time planning for such instruction calls for. My decision to move forward, regardless of time requirements, is premised on a commitment to self to 'take it slow' - to take baby steps and to be truly reflective in the process. I know my students need and deserve this kind of instruction.
So let me begin this new year, and end this first posting in oh so many months, with heartfelt thanks to people like Laura Candler, Michelle Carter, Debbie Diller, and the dozens of fine teachers at Templeton Elementary School. Your generosity, creativeness, discipline, and professionalism light a path towards the transformation of public education and, thus, a brighter future for us all.
