This is the tale of a brand new kindergarten teacher who used to be a kindergarten teacher a long time ago. Think about it - is this "teaching an old dog new tricks"? That is usually something you say which means it is difficult to make someone change the way they do something when they have been doing it the same way for a long time. Noone is making me change - it is a fact of life that teaching has changed since I last comanded a kindergarten classroom. And, in the intervening years, I have changed. So, I am an old dog, and I guess my tricks just have to be tweaked to fit into today's world. Does leave a person feeling a bit out of whack though.
It is a funny position to be in - relearning what you knew well in a new context. I am considered an expert but suddenly I am in a totally new situation - one that people assume I can do well. This ought to be a good adventure tale!
My teaching career has spanned nearly 40 years. I don't like to say I have lived through (and taught through) many different phrases of educational theory because I believe each of the eras had something good to add to teaching in general. I don't see education as a pendulum swinging from one 'new' program to another. I see that each of the theories built upon the past and added to our knowledge of what it takes to educate a child in today's world. To those who say we got a better education in the 50's - I argue that the children of today and not at all similar to the children of the 50's. Their life is so much bigger. Once, I pulled out an old album of children's songs in front of my new kindergarten class and Dillon, who was sitting at my feet, exclaimed, with wide eyes and a look of astonishment, "WOW, that is the biggest CD I have ever seen!" And that was years before anyone ever heard of an IPOD. The things five year olds know now, and the resources they have available to them are worlds ahead of any I had when I started school - how can I teach them in the same way!?
This then, is the tale of an experienced teacher, recently put back into the classroom after 10 or so years as an 'instructional coach' for teachers, adjusting to this new world of Smart Boards and podcasts, textbooks and standards. This is an adventure tale - the tale of a journey.
