I enjoy the Oscars. I like to see what everyone is wearing, who everyone brings with them, the opening monologue/song, the dance number, and of course who wins and what he/she then says in his/her speech. This year, as in many previous, I wondered what I would say if I won an Oscar. Except, I wouldn't win it for acting or directing I'd win it for Best Teacher or Best Lesson Plan or Best Use of Technology in the Classroom and it dawned on me I wouldn't win. It is not that I am not a good teacher or that I don't have good lessons but rather that other than my students no one witnesses me do it. Teaching for all the professional development and PLC's is done in isolation. My students may think I'm great, or not, but who can they compare me to in that particular year. I teach a single grade, or a single subject, and the students have no one to compare me to at that specific time. Even the supervisors who come into my classroom don't really see enough to judge me worthy or unworthy. Usually a teacher knows in advance when someone is coming to observe him/her and he/she plans more, warns/threatens his/her students, and picks a lesson to showcase his/her talent. If a supervisor arrives unannounced he/she may see a lesson but more than likely he/she will see students working on an assignment or project. Maybe with the advance of Web 2.0 tools and global collaboration an Educational Oscar could be possible. Teachers would need to create a video of their best lesson and post it on the World Wide Web. The best would be nominated. Then members of the Academy would vote. The possibilities and technology are there. I wonder if enough excitement could be generated to make this happen? How would our Education System have to change to make this a reality? Maybe I will have to start worrying about what I would say in my speech and oh, of course, what I would wear.
Photo from Flickr
