5 Things We Have To Stop Pretending

+Rae Fearing challenged me to come up with ways to #MakeSchoolDifferent.

Here are my 5 things we have to stop pretending in education.

1. Teachers can do everything on their own.
This probably has more to do with the teacher themselves, but I know that I want to do everything on my own.  But I can't and I need help, not just someone to make copies for me, but to help me learn and grow as a teacher.  I'm almost 5 years into this profession and I am STILL trying to figure everything out.  I don't believe teachers who have been teaching for 20 or more years have it figured out.  

2.  If teachers attend Professional Development they will take it back into the classroom and use it right away.
I'll be honest, I have attended a lot of professional development, but I haven't used half of what I have learned.  Like my kids, I need to be shown how to do things.  If I get to participate and really understand what is being taught there is a greater likelihood I will take what I learned back to my classroom.  But there also needs to be a follow-up to see if I need any assistance.  What I think will be great about my PLC Coaching job is that I get to be the one to follow-up and help out.  It's one thing to expect a teacher to implement something without support, it's another to provide that support.

3. Your text book will cover all your standards.
Now that we are moving towards the Common Core, our text books are not the end all be all.  There are many standards you will have to go elsewhere to find and cover.  I would love a magical book that has everything I need, but it's not out there and teachers need to realize that.

4. Just because I don't know anything about technology, doesn't mean my kids don't either.
I have jumped on the technology bandwagon and ran with it.  I have been trying so many things lately that I didn't even know existed.  Some of them I liked myself and others I didn't care for.  But all of them my kids loved!  I understand there are teachers who don't know how to use technology, but these kids do!  It's hard to not be in total control of a situation, but it's good for you and it makes you learn new things.

5. You have to do the same thing all day, everyday. 
I realize kids need consistency, I am a HUGE advocate for it.  But education is changing everyday and you as a teacher need to change with it.  There are so many different things kids can be doing to show their understanding, engaging and fun things!

This was really hard for me to come up with.  I know I'm learning all the time to be a better teacher for my kids.  I feel like they have gotten a variety of educational experiences this year.  There is always room to grow and get better!