This semester I had the chance to travel to the Navajo Nation in New Mexico through USD’s international experience program. To get from San Diego to Albuquerque I opted out of taking a quick flight and chose to go on a road trip with other members of my cohort instead. Here’s a brief list of the lessons I learned on the road about becoming a better teacher.
1. Students Need to Get Outside.
So much of what we discuss in class at USD surrounds the importance of creating culturally relevant lessons and connecting what students are learning to the real world. During our road trip we stopped at various national parks between California and New Mexico. It was amazing to see how the educational practices and theories that I had learned from my professors began to connect in the real world as we stepped outside of the classroom.
Seeing new cultures and visiting historical sites helped to show that teaching is not isolated to the classroom and by learning in a new environment I was able to make new connections that deepened my understanding of education. When opportunities to teach beyond the classroom walls arise it should be taken. Not only does it allow for a break outside of the norm, but it shows students that learning can happen anywhere.
1. Students Need to Get Outside.
So much of what we discuss in class at USD surrounds the importance of creating culturally relevant lessons and connecting what students are learning to the real world. During our road trip we stopped at various national parks between California and New Mexico. It was amazing to see how the educational practices and theories that I had learned from my professors began to connect in the real world as we stepped outside of the classroom.
Seeing new cultures and visiting historical sites helped to show that teaching is not isolated to the classroom and by learning in a new environment I was able to make new connections that deepened my understanding of education. When opportunities to teach beyond the classroom walls arise it should be taken. Not only does it allow for a break outside of the norm, but it shows students that learning can happen anywhere.
2. If You Can’t Get Out of the Classroom, Bring the Outside World to Them
Making real world connections is key to student engagement and lesson retention. So when the real world comes into their classroom it’s hard to look away. During our trip we visited the Petrified Forrest National Park in Arizona and while the three of us all teach different subjects we each found a connection from the park to bring into the classroom.
For history, the park’s ancient ruins became a resource for how societies form, including hierarchies and social structure. The park’s petroglyphs sparked conversation about language through visuals and in an English classroom could be used as a text for what communication can look like. Also, for the elementary or science classroom, students could discuss what makes the markings able to stay on the rocks after all these years.
Be it pictures, mementos, or artifacts students deserve to see what is outside of their world. We need to show students that school is not bound to four walls but bridges the gaps to the world around them.
Making real world connections is key to student engagement and lesson retention. So when the real world comes into their classroom it’s hard to look away. During our trip we visited the Petrified Forrest National Park in Arizona and while the three of us all teach different subjects we each found a connection from the park to bring into the classroom.
For history, the park’s ancient ruins became a resource for how societies form, including hierarchies and social structure. The park’s petroglyphs sparked conversation about language through visuals and in an English classroom could be used as a text for what communication can look like. Also, for the elementary or science classroom, students could discuss what makes the markings able to stay on the rocks after all these years.
Be it pictures, mementos, or artifacts students deserve to see what is outside of their world. We need to show students that school is not bound to four walls but bridges the gaps to the world around them.
Photo by US National Parks Service
3. Don’t Take a Picture and Read About it Later
Do your research. The more understand you have of a topic the more appreciation you will receive. In my placement, I talk to my students about the importance of knowing when a text is written and the background of the author. The more you know, the more you can infer why a text was written, and in turn the larger purpose or message. Without the previous knowledge, the Petrified Forest we visited would have simply seemed like a large space of rocks. The layers within the Grand Canyon would have just seemed like neat shading, and the alien themed storefronts in Roswell, New Mexico would have seemed out of place.
Giving your students the background they need increases their access points to the text or lesson while also expanding their ability to make deeper, stronger, and more meaningful connections. Additionally, asserting the background knowledge of your students’ unique personalities into a lesson is helpful towards increasing classroom engagement.
Do your research. The more understand you have of a topic the more appreciation you will receive. In my placement, I talk to my students about the importance of knowing when a text is written and the background of the author. The more you know, the more you can infer why a text was written, and in turn the larger purpose or message. Without the previous knowledge, the Petrified Forest we visited would have simply seemed like a large space of rocks. The layers within the Grand Canyon would have just seemed like neat shading, and the alien themed storefronts in Roswell, New Mexico would have seemed out of place.
Giving your students the background they need increases their access points to the text or lesson while also expanding their ability to make deeper, stronger, and more meaningful connections. Additionally, asserting the background knowledge of your students’ unique personalities into a lesson is helpful towards increasing classroom engagement.
4. Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions
Be it for directions, historical information, or the nearest gas station. Freeways were a new territory, just as many of the skills we teach in the classroom are new territory for our students. When students are afraid to ask questions, they could end up wasting time doing a project incorrectly, only to have needed 2 minutes of clarification to have properly understood the assignment. The same goes for new teachers (maybe even double). Don’t be afraid to ask your colleagues, mentors, or administration for help. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for advice.
Speaking up is a powerful skill, one that our students can even learn from our example. It’s the difference between staying in the dark for fear of looking foolish and turning on a light because you know that staying in the dark isn’t helping. Or in the case of our road trip, waiting at a rest stop for a tow truck to bring us gas when we only needed to ask the rest stop manager for help.
FYI: Rest stops always have extra gallons to spare.
Be it for directions, historical information, or the nearest gas station. Freeways were a new territory, just as many of the skills we teach in the classroom are new territory for our students. When students are afraid to ask questions, they could end up wasting time doing a project incorrectly, only to have needed 2 minutes of clarification to have properly understood the assignment. The same goes for new teachers (maybe even double). Don’t be afraid to ask your colleagues, mentors, or administration for help. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for advice.
Speaking up is a powerful skill, one that our students can even learn from our example. It’s the difference between staying in the dark for fear of looking foolish and turning on a light because you know that staying in the dark isn’t helping. Or in the case of our road trip, waiting at a rest stop for a tow truck to bring us gas when we only needed to ask the rest stop manager for help.
FYI: Rest stops always have extra gallons to spare.