Changing our classroom model

Before I enrolled in this program and people would ask about why I wanted to be a teacher, or what that would look like, I had no idea the answer I was giving was based in the SEL model.  It was a term I hadn't yet heard of, but common sense guided my thinking.  We've all heard the phrase 'it takes a village' when referring to the upbringing of our children, and it really does.  Not only do we need to get everyone to buy in, how do we expect our students to learn if their basic needs aren't being met? Now I understand it does happen, but this world is difficult enough as it is, why make it any harder? 

I believe knowledge happens to not be silent.  We learn more when we are able to discuss our thoughts, challenge our ideas, and view topics from a different perspective.  As we learned, learning takes place when we make mistakes! So we should encourage our students to make those mistakes, test their theories, and expand their critical thinking skills.  I want to create a classroom culture where ideas are encouraged and mistakes are learning opportunities.  There isn't a 'wrong way' to learn.  So when we tell our students that their answer is wrong, what kind of message are we sending?  Obviously there was a reason they answered the way they did; let's go ahead and explore it!

I am a big hands on learner and I have to see a practical application of what we are doing to really learn it and retain it to memory.  This is why abstract subjects are hard for me to master.  This is why Universal Design for Learning is so important.  Maybe a student can't stand up and give a presentation to let me know what they learned.  But maybe they could make me a really cool graphic, map, or maybe bring in a food dish that the current culture we are learning about partakes in.  There are so, so many more ways to learn and demonstrate your knowledge of a subject outside of a lecture and test.  I remember sitting in class as a child and thinking I was an idiot.  My number one mission as a teacher has nothing to do with teaching and everything to do with my relationship with my students and making sure they feel valued and never feel the way I did while they are sitting in our classroom.