Meet my alter-egos: YESlie and NOlie. In education, as in life, the best things are balanced. Hard work with relaxation. Salty with sweet. Discipline with liberty. I would argue that the best teachers need to be balanced too. I took inspiration for both YESlie and NOlie from my own preferences and predilections. I both cherish and fear change, as I’m sure many of us do, and I appreciate student-centred learning for the way it honours the learner while I also appreciate the need to maintain a classroom environment that is controlled enough to give all students the opportunity to learn without distraction. My ideal classroom would harness the thoughtfulness and order-making from NOlie, and the creativity and enthusiasm from YESlie, with a blend of assessment and instructional styles.
As I continue my learning journey through OLTD, I keep returning to the role of good school leadership in terms of change, both technological and pedagogical, and how important it is that administrators support both the YESlie’s and the NOlie’s on staff, in addition to helping these teachers find their own harmonious teaching balance. Some leaders might be traditional themselves, and need to be sure that they balance “what has worked in the past” with the new and exciting, and that they support the YESlies who might want to try to technology or pedagogies in their classrooms. Some leaders seem to undervalue the NOlies, who do tend to offer real results, and often have the benefit of experience to support their choices. Just because a teacher is traditional, does not mean that he or she is a “has-been” or making poor choices for students. After all, this is the beauty of having a variety of teachers offering courses in schools, as it allows the students to experience a variety of teaching styles and figure out their learning preferences (and that invaluable skill of “getting along with others”). Where does this critical reflection get me? I am a few steps closer to really understanding who I am as a pedagogue, and what qualities I want to bring into the classroom. I better understand that these qualities vary based on context, on students, and frankly, on how I feel on a certain day. Interestingly, this brings me back to my university epiphany, when the then 19-year-old Leslie sat in one of her Pre-Med organic chemistry lectures. I realized, at that point, that they were trying to FAIL us. It was a “weeder” course, and the learning had stopped being fun as they tried to weed out the students who wouldn’t make it to the next semester. I realized that what I really wanted to do with my life was change the world (obviously), and that I loved learning, and if I became a teacher I could combine my passion for learning with my desire to affect change. I had an existential crisis (I actually have these a lot), changed majors, and ended up where I am today - trying to balance the best of what worked for me, with the best of what’s new and exciting, and change the world, one student at a time, in the process.
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Leslie McCurrachEnthusiastic Learner. Avid Gardener. DL Teacher. Archives
March 2018
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