I teach both middle school "technology" (think shop class mixed with Computer Science) and I later teach the same students in geometry and calculus in high school. This means when I first work with students there are no grades, just an opportunity to be creative and learn how to use tools and programming to make things.
This creates an amazing foundation for our work in academics later.
I wonder if it could be a model for improving math education we could expand?
@futurebird I have been wondering about this - I am a middle grades art teacher, so I see kids year after year and there are grades but they're way less high stakes. We tinker and create an environment where failure and risk taking can happen, and they get to show a teacher what they care about. By the end of a quarter we have a great rapport.
And then our poor math and even ELA teachers are stuck on a curriculum with coaches overseeing it and data collection like crazy and no room to tinker
@futurebird meanwhile, math teachers and ELA teachers get harped on all day to "build relationships" - many of my kids do not try without a relationship with the teacher.
But that relationship-building can happen naturally in a class like the one you're talking about! And then they can look forward to seeing you later for academics and trust you.
myrmepropagandist
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