I've been in this funk lately, hence the lack of posts. It's not that I don't want to post, it's just that I have nothing interesting to post about.
They way I function is that I put all my effort and heart into a current project. When our department was involved with the PARLO study, it was all I thought about: formative assessment, interviews with students, high performance questions and activities, clear learning goals, etc. But it's been a few years since the study and now I'm focused on game design. I spend every free minute thinking about, working on, and talking about game design and that leaves my 45 minute prep to work on my school work. I'm not proud of this (actually I'm embarrassed by it), but most of my lessons are direct instruction and I'M BORED!!
The answer is clear; stop designing games. But that's not advice I want to follow because I really enjoy designing games. If I had to pick what I do in my evenings and my choices were to create dynamic lesson plans or design games, I pick design games.
They way I function is that I put all my effort and heart into a current project. When our department was involved with the PARLO study, it was all I thought about: formative assessment, interviews with students, high performance questions and activities, clear learning goals, etc. But it's been a few years since the study and now I'm focused on game design. I spend every free minute thinking about, working on, and talking about game design and that leaves my 45 minute prep to work on my school work. I'm not proud of this (actually I'm embarrassed by it), but most of my lessons are direct instruction and I'M BORED!!
The answer is clear; stop designing games. But that's not advice I want to follow because I really enjoy designing games. If I had to pick what I do in my evenings and my choices were to create dynamic lesson plans or design games, I pick design games.
This is why it bothers me so much. If I want to be a great teacher I have to forfeit my hobbies to do so. Or in other words, teaching has to be my hobby. However, the school district will provide me with enough time to be a mediocre teacher. Why can I be a great teacher on school time?
I can totally relate! I want to be a great teacher and do what is best for my students, but I don't want to have to sacrifice the other things I have going on in my life. So I live a stressful and chaotic schedule hoping that someday teachers will be given more prep time!
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate! I want to be a great teacher and do what is best for my students, but I don't want to have to sacrifice the other things I have going on in my life. So I live a stressful and chaotic schedule hoping that someday teachers will be given more prep time!
ReplyDelete