Transformative Teaching - Step 1

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.

This probably goes without saying… but maybe not! In order to effectively implement Transformative Teaching in your classroom you have to have content knowledge first! We’re calling this step one on the Transform Your Teaching journey.

Let’s be honest here, college is great.. We learned a ton and wouldn’t trade our experiences there. We both went to private colleges that (didn’t necessarily realize this at the time but ohh well..) were incredibly rigorous. We started internships in FRESHMAN year people! That’s a lot of service hours and experience! And you know what? It did not effectively train us for teaching our subjects once we hit the ground in our classrooms. Now not to say that’s anyone’s fault. The expectation is that your district will train you on what you need to know when you’re hired. Well….. that happens.. sometimes. Buuuuuuuut if we’re being truthful, after you’ve been in the field a few years you realize that becoming a teacher is kind of a trial by fire. But we’re teachers. We figure it out you know?

So we did. In our first years as teachers we were at separate schools and didn’t work together. And yet we both had some of the hardest years of our careers. Learning new curriculum, dealing with incredibly challenging defiant behavior, discovering processing and executive functioning disorders in the flesh, and saying yes to entirely too much! It was a lot. And definitely overwhelming. The one thing that benefitted us more than ANYTHING else was Professional Development.

Going to the first district mandated PD was like a breath of fresh air when you’re struggling to stay above water. We learned so much those first few years! CGI, ECM, and Number talks for math. Phonics First, Orton Gillingham, Empowering Writers, and the beginning of The Science of Reading for Language Arts. NGSS STEM training for Science. These programs, along with all the various trainings in base curriculum programs like HMH and Sing/Spell/Read/Write, helped us gain our confidence more than anything else. With confidence came creativity! With creativity came the patience and wherewithal to create immersive learning situations for our successful and floundering learners.

All of this is to say: transformative teaching is for everyone! Anyone can do it and do it successfully. There are even varying degrees of success and everything counts! But if you’re going to go all-in, really go all-in and make sure you’ve got a handle on the content first. Google is always your friend (as long as you’re checking with reliable sources) and Professional Development cannot be beat! These days there are incredible virtual classes held every week and of course local co-ops host workshops, usually free, for many districts! Whatever you do, just make sure you’re feeling confident in yourself! You’re the teacher, you know best, and you know how to meet the needs of your students better than anyone else. You go this!

So are you ready?? Let’s head to step 2 - active strategies to support every day learning!

On to Step 2

Who are We?