Freedom to Teach

That you are able to teach what you see fit with your curriculum. That you can be creative and innovative with your students and faculty. That you can collaborate with other subjects to create something awesome and involve a lot of different students doing it. To involve students to become the teachers to other students. Freedom to teach has so many meaning to me and our school. It has allowed us to THRIVE with our students,faculty and each other.

I teach in a small school and often have multiple classes in my classroom simultaneously. I have found that it is much easier to group the math topics, and then individualize as needed based on the levels in the class. I also try to use projects that hit multiple learning targets at once.

I can now take time to teach students more about their own history, some life skills and get them ready to go to college academically , psychologically and emotionally.

To not be bound by law/government and those who hold back our profession with their power.

I can help them start from where they are and build on the interests they have so they want to learn and they do not have to worry about being hungry or fixing the emotional issues at home. There are so many great young people who just want to be more than what they are, they just need the opportunity to learn in a stress free environment.

Having freedom to teach also means that I am not judged based on how students perform on a test, and I'm not evaluated negatively on having to ask an administrator to step in to solve a severe disciplinary issue (fights, assaults, threats) after having been informed that severe issues are to be dealt with by administrators. Freedom to teach means having support to build relationships with my students as well as my colleagues and to be treated as a professional and with the respect I give my students, their parents, my colleagues, and my supervisors.

It is escaping the ever present dark cloud hovering over.

It also means being included on curriculum changes and truly having a say in what is taught.