Who did what for whom and for what purpose?
This OP is for me, my students, other teachers, and general people in the community.
This OP has created space to help me utilize my strengths and minimize my weaknesses as a teacher.
It serves as an awareness tool for those in the community to help support an intentional education movement, or intentional classroom.
The journey of this OP and it's discoveries have been supported by my students and co-teachers. They assisted by being part of my project developments and transitions. Their presence has aided in personal reflections, personal goals and visions. My co-teachers have also offered evaluations and feedback as I have dived into this transitional period of intentional teaching.
Personal goals:
- Observe and interview schools
- What am I good at teaching?
- Listening
- don't answer approach!
- Embody non-violent communication
Actionable steps:
- Read Robert Gonzales' non-violent communication
- Apply Starhawk's social permaculture principles to intentional teaching
- Discover 3 passions in teaching
- Read excerpts from Coyote's guid to connecting with Nature
The primary intervention that was made was surrounding the content. I chose to focus the project a little more solely on the specifications of intentional teaching in my life rather than developing mini-projects on interviews and observing other schools.
I felt like I was a lady of many facets for this project. I was a leader, supporter, and a follower. Every day in the classroom is an opportunity for growth and some days the kids are the teachers and you're following and supporting them and other days you're the leader and encouraging the pathway for them. Whichever position I landed in, I completely embodied and absorbed the responsibilities that coincide with the role.
I had some unknowing team members aka my students which are 3 and 4. I say this because they have been my inspiration in this transition. I also have had amazing support from my co-teacher who willingly let's me take the stage when I have an idea or passion, or sit back and observe when she's inspired.
The group review processes that were utilized during this OP are check-ins, and checking for understanding from the kids by doing specific activities, or holding brief discussions.
Interventions and their timing
A couple weeks ago I felt all over the place with my take on my output packet. I felt like I wanted to jump to 2 at once and that they were intertwining so well, but that ultimately created more stress and would have been more work than I needed to chew. Fortunately, I had a Gaia U content call and we were talking extensively about our project OP's during the think and listen time frame and it relaxed some of those jitters. I also had reached out to my main advisor and held a brief check-in where she supported me in unveiling some of the details/directions and pathways I wanted to go with this output. That is when I made the intervention to solely focus on: what intentional teaching is to me, why I think it is important on an individual level/community level, and what have been my experiences/journies so far during this project. This encouraged me to focus my documentation on these processes rather than what felt like 5 million ideas at once. This intervention supported my capacity to complete this OP by the timeline/goal I had set for myself and to dissolve my stress and anxiety towards completing it on time.
Notes about Context
The meta-context of this OP is on my experience of education. I will talk about the differences between my previous teaching styles and the new approach of intentional teaching. My project depicts the importance of intentional teaching on an individual level and on a community level. I have focused my work/design around starhawk's thirteen social permaculture principles. I also have used this OP to report on the significance teaching has had for me and what this style of teaching has done for the students.
Introduction
The core report touches on why I specifically think education is important on an individual level as well as on a community level. I do this by incorporating readings, self-discoveries/experiences and videos.
It also integrates the social permaculture prinicples, and non-violent communication I have adapted into my classroom for an intentional based classroom transition.
This output also demonstrates my journey of teaching, and what teaching with intention is to me, what I have done around it, documenting why it's important to me. I then have related it to greather pathway/goals for gaia and beyond.