Musings about Teaching

Well, I will start by saying that I realize I have neglected my blog. I apologize to all of my eight followers! LOL

I fully intended my blog to have posts about teaching: my thoughts on teaching, philosophies of teaching, favorite activities, amusing stories from my classroom, etc. I haven't done much of that, because I find it so much easier to post pictures and scrapbook pages and talk about my latest creation or scrappy activity.

Allow me to ponder, a moment, on a comment a dear friend and former school superintendent made to me one time. He said, "Wanda, you know, I have found over the years that the best thing you can do for a good teacher is get out of her way." I believe this to be true. I am a good teacher. My students perform well on their state tests; I have only about a 10-15% failure rate in my class; my students and parents like me and are comfortable talking to me (generally speaking); I work hard in my classroom, I put my students' learning FIRST when I am at work, I am constantly rethinking and refining what I do in order to improve my students' achievement.
I do what's best for each class, even if that means extra work; I spend hours grading papers in order to know what things my students still don't understand. I actually change my plans based on those papers I grade.

I wish that my dear friend's philosophy were embraced by those who are constantly throwing obstacles in my path. Just get out of the way and let me teach.