As I type this post, it's finals week, and I am shooting for an A+ in accounting. (When did I get to be such a perfectionist?)
I think it is important for teachers to be learners and experience classes the way our students do. Sometimes that means sitting through hours of professional development that someone else thinks is important. Other times, it's taking a class that I have always wanted to take.
This summer, I reversed things. I found myself analyzing the curriculum and the assignments from the teacher's point of view. When I took a multiple choice test, for example, I could see what made the wrong answers wrong but close enough to the actual answer. I felt like I understood the content more deeply because I took time to analyze wrong answers.
I also took a crochet class. I realized that I had developed bad habits over the years and that I needed to relearn some techniques. I wish I would have learned how to hold the hook correctly in the first place. I would be much more efficient.
We want our students to reflect on their learning. It will be easier to guide the discussion when I have reflected on my own first.
It sounds like you had a refreshing summer. It's always great to take time to learn for yourself, and I like the way you were able to apply it to your own teaching.
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