Teaching is like climbing a mountain.

Teaching is like climbing a mountain. 

At the bottom, students may be intimidated by the mountain of knowledge awaiting them. As they ascend the mountain, tasks I meaningfully select continually challenge students within their Zone of Proximal Development, which ignites motivation, inquiry, and deeper understandings of fundamental concepts and ideas. As students climb higher and understand more, they can see how far they have come and appreciate themselves. Students will emerge from the dense forested areas of the mountain and be welcomed by the mountain's fresh air and cool breeze; students emerge from the information-loading stage of their trek and begin to ask questions, draw conclusions, inquire, address misconceptions, and make judgements. After students make sense of densely packed rudimentary concepts they can analyze and apply their learning to tasks that require higher order thinking.  At this point on the mountain, students can view their surroundings, and gained knowledge, 180°. Only until they have summited the mountain may students see 360°, applying their knowledge to real world contexts and making connections across curriculum. Once students reach the top of their first mountain and hurdle all of the challenges it posed, they continue onto the next mountain and their next educational feat. Learning is lifelong. 

It is my responsibility to guide, not pull, students to reach success. And once students have achieved their goal, I will take each and every one up the next mountain. Students cannot summit mountains on their own. I must guide my students to their successes. As the weather on a mountain is ever-changing, it is crucial to be flexible and adapt to conditions. There are always supports along the way to help students reach their goals, and I must differentiate in my classroom to provide the right equipment for each student so they do not fall down. I recognize the individuality and diversity each of my students brings to our learning journey and our classroom. Being educated through diversity and sharing different ways of knowing allows students to deepen conceptual understandings and personally grow in a way that is impossible to do individually; everyone contributes to overcoming the climb.

My students and I cannot summit mountains on our own. I must seek out support and expertise from individuals and groups who have been down the way before and are willing to share with us. I must bring experts to my class and bring my class to experts in order to create meaningful learning experiences for my climbers. I must integrate curriculum to provide meaningful and interconnected learning experiences for students. I must allow opportunities for students to metacognitively understand themselves as learners. 

I strive to instill in my students a lifelong passion for learning, for climbing.