Education is my passion!
June 23, 2013
June 23, 2013
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Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi Welcome to my corner of the world. I created this site just days before our upcoming school year begins. I spent this summer working on getting ready for my students and I still find myself anxious about the first day, and the other hundred seventy-nine that will follow. This year bring tremendous change to our district and school. We move away from the block schedule, we add SLO's or student learning objectives to our plates; RtI, response to intervention will be operational this year; I will be teaching US History for the first time in seven years; I plan on implementing genius hour and focus on some of the ideas I learned from the power of ICU where students must do all assignments in order to earn credit with the goal being no one fails. I have never been more excited about teaching in my career. I almost have to laugh when I write this because I, like so many other educators, am faced with increasing demands, some I mentioned above, and yet I am excited to get back into the classroom and focus on building relationships. I began teaching so many years ago with that idea in mind. I wanted to create great lessons, reach ever kid, and make a difference in every student's life. When I reflect on where I was at the end of last school year to where I am today, I realize that I had strayed away from those values and beliefs. During my career I had shifted focus to what I thought my administrators wanted, what I needed to be, and it wasn't always inline with what was best for my students. It isn't easy to admit that I haven't lived up to my vision of a good educator. There were many things I was doing well, but there was something missing. I wasn't as connected to the students as I could or should have been and I missed out on many opportunities. These opportunities could have made the difference in whether or not my students valued my courses, completed their work, or felt valued themselves. The course I have laid out for this year will be challenging. It will be a bumpy ride filled with failure that I hope to learn from, and successes that WILL be celebrated! I am excited for the year ahead. I will use this space on the web to chronicle my journey. |
Ben BrazeauI began teaching in 1999 in Northeast Wisconsin. Throughout my teaching career I have been passionate about enhancing quality lessons through technology; reflecting on my own practices; and twenty-first century learning.
Twitter @Braz74 |