You know what’s awesome about teaching my own class again? I am consistently knocked down 2-500 pegs, depending on the day. But seriously, you know what’s actually awesome about it? Having colleagues like you surround me while I fail and succeed and fail again.
That’s why so many of our “choose your own adventure” options involve experiencing each others’ teaching craft.
I joined a teaching square. I mean, of course, I did. It’s a thing I conceived, or at least adapted for our schools’ usage and so I figured it would be pretty hypocritical to launch a thing and then fail to actually take part in it. It was such a low-stakes thing and I love a low-stakes thing. I also love things that involve food. Low-stakes things that involve food are pretty much my specialty.
My magical square of teaching goodness was composed of the delightful, talented, and endlessly generous Cyndi Irons, Monica Colletti, and Maria Edwards. (Don’t kill me, guys; I couldn’t help but pull your cute pictures from MySA.)
First, they observed me: Ironically, ALL THREE of my teaching square buddies happened to show up on the same morning. Like it was weird and they hadn’t planned it. They came on a writing marathon day, and they, like the good sports they are, jumped right in to write and share alongside my very energetic seniors.
I then had the gift of observing each of them. Sure, I get to sit in classrooms all the time. But my teaching squares version of self was liberated to simply hang out to glean things for my own teaching practice. It was inherently celebratory and selfish all at the same time. A wonderful combo really.
From Maria I learned the power of the atmosphere we set in our classrooms via decor, furniture, and rapport. Despite the fact that she teaches fifth grade history, it was clear that Maria believes in her students and works to equip them with choice within structure. I saw the youth happily working on projects and gamifying their learning with Gimkit. “Maybe next year we can share these projects with lower school students,” Maria posited. Fifth grade magic.
From Cyndi’s seventh grade art class, I learned the ways that students naturally take up the same project in so many different ways and from so many different skill levels. I think all of us can agree “art class chill” is the best kind of experience. Everyone happily progressed on their project without rush or stress or needing nagged. How can I do that with my seniors? I also got to see how Cyndi builds excitement for an upcoming nutcracker project with hip hop ballet and how she seamlessly incorporates a diverse array of artists into her curriculum.
From Monica’s sixth-grade English, I learned how to make every class less like a big old entree and more like an array of delightful bite-sized tapas with a singular theme. We learned about dependent clauses, walked and talked to practice them, shared them out, watched a fun music video, and moved on to a center activity practicing with varied sentence construction. Monica took advantage of every mistake a student made and turned it into a learning opportunity for everyone.
When we gathered at Eudora’s to share what we learned from each other (well, after we realized how expensive the place was and decided to buy half price appetizers . .. and two desserts whoops instead of full meals), we took turns spotlighting what we learned from the experience, one teacher at a time. Unsurprisingly, a lot of us had similar takeaways, even though we hit different class periods. I felt strangely nervous when it was “my turn” to be talked about, but Maria-Monica-Cyndi were generous and insightful as they pointed out things about my practice I hadn’t even realized I was doing. Plus I got to stuff my face with the most incredible goat cheese situation while they talked. That helped.
Teaching squares is a double-edged gift. I left (1) feeling more confident in my own particular strengths as a teacher while also (2) possessing a handful of other ideas and approaches from three educators I super-respect. Thanks to my teaching square, I became more than just a random point in space . . . I became a meaningful constellation.
We’ve already started this semester’s round of teaching squares, but if enough folks want to opt in a week or two late, email me and I will try to configure some more squares!