The Introverted Educator

Today at Indian Land High School we are undergoing a second attempt at MAP testing for grades 9-11. The first attempt was thwarted by inadequate internet connections, allegedly on the part of the test host. This week, their internet is allegedly capable of handling hundreds of students that are eagerly awaiting their opportunity to demonstrate the depths of their learning.  A Good Try. The first time that we attempted to administer these tests, I did not comprehend that my class was among those to be tested. After all, the testing was for English and Reading, not me, right? Since I didn't believe all the training testing emails belonged to me, I deleted them as promptly as I received them. Come the morning of the test and the realization that I was not exempt from testing also came the panic and dread of being unprepared. There is nothing worse than being unprepared in a room full of teenagers (but in this case, four very polite female students and eleven online learners at home th...

This week made me feel like a rookie teacher. I am in my twenty-third year of teaching. I am teaching a class that I have taught for my twelve years. It is the class I used for my doctoral research. I know the material reasonably well. I am comfortable leading in-class discussions with vibrancy and passion about a field that is dynamic. Psychology is a subject I feel that all high school students would benefit from. We tackle issues such as how our biology influences our behavior, how biology affects our personal perceptions and beliefs, how we learn complicated (and not so complicated) subjects, and what study methods show the best results just to name a few useful topics. These are things I focused on in the before times. Now things are different. Blended Learning. Last year I flipped my classroom and instituted a blended learning approach. This combines the best attributes of online instruction with in-class collaboration. Students get low-level activities, such as note-taking and b...

During a regular school year, I am usually excited about the beginning of a new semester. I like to stand outside my classroom door and greet students with a smile as they shyly approach my mobile. Students nonchalantly search for my room number, trying to look behind me so they do not have to make eye contact or ask me if they are in the right place. Dressed in new clothes, clean new shoes, and still tanned from summer, the students take seats among classmates that will soon be friends. Our shared intrigue coalesces into energy that shapes the rest of the semester.  At the start of this school year, my usual excitement was burdened by confusion and concern. There were several challenges that I did not anticipate. Here are a few of those. First of all, at one time the largest amount of students that I had was six, and the lowest was four. I had several students online. I had to remember to turn on the Google Meet and get the online students included while taking attendance with an ...