A Different Classroom- by K.McCutcheon

  June 1, 2023 Wow! It sure has been a long time since my last post… I wish I could update in one long post, but too much has happened to do that. Time to get back to blogging and share my thoughts.  Let’s start with the end of a chapter!  This past year has definitely been a chapter, maybe even a book. It has had all the things. The characters have been forever changed. The setting is a place called home. The story has a climax with problems and solutions. The end is bittersweet and a tale to be told over and over again.  This year has given me hope and strength in new beginnings .  My team has been absolutely amazing. My desire was to create an environment in which we trust and depend on one another. From our team building day in July to daily planning and hallway conversations, this year was amazing because of them. We laughed, cried, and loved through every professional and personal moment. I will forever remember them as my number ones. They left some big s...

  July 1, 2022      As a teacher, it’s so easy to give our students everything they want and need. It’s our job. We went into this profession with a passion to create something special for the young lives that walk into our classrooms. It wasn’t until I was a mom that I had the same feelings for my child.       I just spent the past week at a conference in Orlando known as Get Your Teach On. If you’ve never heard of it, then you should look it up. It’s a movement I’ve had the privilege of following and implementing since January 2017. While I was in the conference, my child was with my mother about an hour or so away. Why is this important? Because in this conference (or I’d love to start calling it a movement), we focus and learn on how to create moments for our students.      When it comes to life, that’s one of my biggest goals with my son. I don’t want to just live in the motions. I want to create moments with him. I want to giv...

  June 28, 2022     Professional development is an opportunity for one to grow in their craft. Many times teachers view professional development in many different ways. Some see it as an opportunity with expressions of excitement. Some see it as repetition with expressions of annoyance. The amazing thing is we all will become adults transformed back into students.     If we are officially all students, then what do we need in professional development to learn. It’s such a great and powerful question. In fact, I recently had the opportunity to consider an answer for this. Would you like to hear about it?     Here it goes… consider your lessons. How do you teach? Are you the front loader? The person who gives all the information and then allows practice. Or are you the facilitator that leads student/learner discourse? The person who gives students an activity to explore and then elaborates with information.     As a learner, the oppor...

  June 28, 2022        Classroom management is such a strong focus. So many teachers are looking for the answer on how to run or manage their classroom. It continues to amaze me how much focus there is on telling students exactly how to behave. We tell them how to line up. We tell them how to get to their seat. It’s exhausting! Now, someone is already disagreeing with me. And that’s ok! At the end of the day, these children are humans. They are just like you and me. How many of us want to be told how to walk or sit or stand? It makes sense to have structure, but there is a difference in structure and control.  This past year, I truly enjoyed giving my students freedom. It was AMAZING! Yes, we need to model and give students expectations on the best way to succeed within the classroom. But I want to give them an opportunity to be themselves. Let’s flip the switch… it’s not that I don’t want classroom management. It’s that I want students to build and have se...

  July 20, 2022     The month of May is like jumping off a ship into the dark blue to touch the bottom of the ocean. It's one of those months where everything seems to happen at once. The past two years, the month of May has been one of my greatest challenges.      Once the month of May hits, it's like I disappear, or dive deep into work. All I do is work. All I spend my money on is things at work. I feel like my whole life revolves around work. It's the one month I struggle to make ends meet with the balance of work and family time.      It's also a month full of reward. It's a month when the school year comes to an end. It's a month we get to review everything learned and accomplished within my four walls. It's a month of reflection on how far the students have come, how much I've grown, and how many things have contributed to the successes or failures of the year.      May is my new "blackout" month. It's the month I will ju...

  June 21, 2022     Three important words are challenges, lead, and failure. Now, any combination of these words can create a positive or negative outcome. Let's break it down...     It's not foreign to say we all have experienced challenges. I have encountered my share of challenges. One challenge being wanting to get my ideas in writing and published in a book. Some might even say it's a dream or goal of mine. Any dream can come with it's own set of obstacles.      When faced with challenges, we can either feel the success or the failure. Failure is hard. It makes us want to give up. Again, I think about my book idea. I haven't had the feeling of failure, but the temptation of taking a break. That will never help me accomplish my goal.      Finally, we have lead. This summer I'm in a program that has centered my focus on leading. I can't help but acknowledge my challenges in publishing my book idea and not accepting fail...

  April 23, 2022     There is nothing more refreshing... than having the opportunity to reflect on one's craft.       This year I welcomed a student teacher into my classroom. It was an exciting experience to be able to share my class with someone else. A little nerve-racking at first because i wasn't sure how it was going to work out. But it was amazing to think of all the possibilities.      Needless to say, my student teacher ROCKED it. She really took the time to observe and reflect. She also took her observations and attempted anything she experienced with me. At the end of the day, I learned from her as well.      Once there are eyes in the classroom, it brings a new light to how things are done. I quickly realized where I was lacking and what was missing as we discussed ideas about the classroom. She inspired me to be the teacher I strived to be, but even better. If you are ever asked to have a student teacher in yo...