Just recently, I received a tweet from my friend Shelly Terrell who 'tagged' me in her post about educators who have influenced her as a teacher, challenging me to reflect on my own teachers.

I have named this post after hers: Lessons Learned from Great Educator.  

My grandmother

The first teacher that I had was my grandmother.  She ran a Montessori school in the suburbs of New York City where I grew up.  My Montessori beginnings definitely helped mold me as a learner.  I learned through exploration and social interaction.  Those lessons continued as I spent my summers with her, my grandfather and two cousins on Nantucket Island as a child.  We spent our afternoons exploring the beaches, digging hot tubs in the sand and reading a collection of photo-laden encyclopedias.

Kindergarten
The next teacher I remember was my Kindergarten teacher, Betty Raden (I don't know if I spelled her name correctly, it was a while ago.).  We wrote in our journals every day, we spent a week in a homemade cardboard town with everyone working a different job every day.  I think I remember working in the post office, delivering letters that my classmates had written.  My parents and I stopped by an appliance store to get some big boxes to help build the city.

We also raised Monarch butterflies in the spring, watching our eggs hatch and our caterpillars change into butterflies, drawing and writing about the changes.  When they hatched, we had a butterfly room, which was in the corner of the classroom.  We could walk inside and feed the butterflies.  Then, they were tagged and set free to migrate to the South.


Mrs. Wittenberg
Most students didn't like Mrs. Wittenberg. She made you WORK.  I had her for 8th grade Global Studies and 9th grade English.  She lectured us on the culture, traditions, history and politics of every corner of the world and taught us how to build a well-organized essay that addressed all aspects of the topic at hand.  In English class, she gave us a choice of how to show what we had learned (such as a movie poster).  She handed out a rubric at the beginning of the assignment, then had us fill it out to hand in with our work.  She would also fill one out so we could see how accurately we had graded ourselves.

My biggest lesson that I learned from her, however, is one that I describe to my students every year.  We were assigned to write a research paper about any topic we wanted.  I chose acid rain.  I spent weeks doing the research and writing the essay.  I thought it was pretty great.  When I got my essay back, it said "See Me" in big red letters.

Turns out, I had plagiarized nearly all of my essay.  She made me stay after school to sit with her and rewrite half of the essay.  I was able to resubmit it and though I don't remember the grade (maybe it was a B+?) it was the best lesson I've ever had in restating facts in my own words.  She was patient with me and took the time to make the best of a 'teachable moment' when another teacher might have failed me without such dedication to her student.


Walkabout
The most influential part of my high school experience was my senior year in the Walkabout program.  The program was based on a rite of passage for young Aborigines.  In my junior year I applied for the program, which was designed for high school seniors who were either in risk of failing or looking for something more out of high school,  and was accepted.  I had been taking mostly AP and advanced courses, was yearbook editor and a member of a few clubs, and was pretty much bored with what high school had to offer.

In September, myself and about 25 other students from around Westchester County, NY found ourselves in a building on the BOCES campus in Yorktown with no idea what was in store for us.  Our year began with a week-long backpacking trip in the Catskills--carrying our food, tents and water with us--and progressed to a 4-week Community Service project.  We reported to our C.S. location 4 days a week for a full day, reporting to school only on Mondays for classes and reflection.  Next, came the 6-week Internship and extensive training in resume creation, interviewing skills and a lot of phone calls ending in rejection.  I was able to land 2 internships, splitting my 4 days 'in the field' between Vibe magazine and YM magazine.  On Monday, I went to class and reflected on my experiences during the week.  I did this all before my 18th birthday.

Our year concluded with another week-long backpacking trip, this time in the Adirondacks, and a graduation unlike anything I'd ever been to.  The graduations were spanned over 2 nights, with every student standing in front of their friends and family talking about their year, their accomplishments, their fears and their dreams.

I don't even remember my 'real' high school graduation---except that I wore a pink skirt that I made myself and probably sneakers. I was, at that point, 'beyond high school.'  I don't understand why this kind of program isn't available to all seniors.  It is the ultimate preparation for adult life.


My Education, My Teaching Style
It is no secret to me that my own past education experiences have influenced my teaching style.  In grades K-3 I did nothing but project based learning.  I completed many hands-on projects and I was given freedom in what I chose to study.  I find that much of my teaching reflects this philosophy.  I tend to lean toward projects that span a few weeks to a month, and I always try to give my students some kind of choice in completing the assignment.

I use rubrics extensively and make them available to my students when we start the project and throughout the project.  I also take the time to teach my students about copyright and plagiarism, and I try not to miss 'teachable moments' when I see a misconception or a student struggling with an assignment.

I am aware that my experience is exceptional and that I have been blessed with a handful of wonderful teachers and varied, alternative learning experiences.  I know how much this kind of education meant to me and how it helped me become the adult I am today. This is why it saddens me to no end to watch my students stuck in classrooms with scripted, direct instruction lessons, curriculum timelines that require teachers to move on, and subjects taught in isolation with no real world application or student choice.

I see students' curiosity stifled, their motivation hindered and their love of learning crushed at a young age.  Learning was fun and relevant for me as a child.  When you take the blocks and social play out of Kindergarten, and you teach standardized test skills to 1st graders, you've already begun the process of taking away a child's natural curiosity and need for exploration.




The Challenge

So I'm tagging some fellow bloggers to reflect on teachers they've had that have influenced their teaching and personal lives.  Andrew Forgrave, Chad Sansing, Deven Black, Beth Still, and Kelly Hines and Ryan Wassink I have tagged you in this post, but please do not feel pressured.  I respect your blogs and your work as educators, and wanted to extend this challenge to you.


Please link back to Shelly's original post (see above) in your post, as it is she who started the challenge!

Please leave a link to your post in the comments so that we can read them!

aborigine photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Mountains_Aboriginees.jpg
Monarch photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestrated1/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0