I used to think I was a pretty good teacher

And I probably was.

But I came to this program because I wanted professional training to complement my on-the-job experience. I knew there was a lot in the world of education I needed to learn, like how to meet external (state or district) standards, how to evaluate student performance in other ways besides tests, and how to use technology purposefully in the classroom (one of the key themes of 504).

Yesterday we watched this video of a fantastic (and I mean fantastic) German teacher that blew me away. Last year I was a foreign language teacher, I guess, but my lessons were pitifully boring compared to what this teacher did. She reviewed previously learned vocabulary (parts of the body) with a sort of Simon-says game that the students actually seemed enthusiastic about. She continued to use other kinesthetic activities throughout the lesson and explained why she though moving around/acting out vocabulary/drawing were important parts of the students' cognition. The aspect of the lesson that most impressed me was how the teacher gave the students confidence in their (limited) language abilities. She asked questions that allowed students to demonstrate the vocabulary and structures they knew, and she challenged the students to figure out new words using logic and prior knowledge.

So, for as much as I complain about some of the content and assignments, I'm saying on the record that I am getting much of what I came for. Though I hate, hate, hate the taxonomy table and cringe at every mention of "cognitive dimensions", I know that it will help me broaden my teaching and tap into different (and higher) ways that students learn. And as much as I'm struggling to make terms like "metacognition" and "backward design" and "scaffolding" part of my new vocabulary (and relevant), I really do understand that these concepts are useful.

And you can remind me of this next time you hear me complain. Which will probably be in the next few hours.

Oh, and I'm doing my research on differences in East Asian and Western educational practices. I'll write more about this later (ok, maybe) but so far it's really interesting.