Teaching What Matters – Teaching Vs. Learning

What matters most?  This is a question that’s been on my mind lately as I face a classroom full of students who are increasingly dealing with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression… as well as students who are becoming disengaged with school and the curriculum.  Now, more than ever I have to find a way to make my course relevant and current… sometimes easier said than done.  I have to find a way to connect old world poetry to their lives, show them how grammar still “counts”, how to express themselves through their writing, how to read a book simply for the pleasure of it, how to notice the world around them and connect to it in a meaningful and real way.

This is a question that’s been on my mind lately as I face a classroom full of students who are increasingly dealing with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression… as well as students who are becoming disengaged with school and the curriculum.  Now, more than ever I have to find a way to make my course relevant and current… sometimes easier said than done.  I have to find a way to connect old world poetry to their lives, show them how grammar still “counts”, how to express themselves through their writing, how to read a book simply for the pleasure of it, how to notice the world around them and connect to it in a meaningful and real way.

One of the things I’ve done over the last few years is to change my frame of mind… I’ve switched from thinking about “What do I need to teach?” to thinking about “What do I want my students to learn?”.   

For example, I have to teach poetry and figurative language as part of my ELA class.  Instead of just thinking about all of the terms my students need to know, I’m focusing more on what I want them to learn about poetry and how to enjoy poetry so that there isn’t a collective groan when I say the word.  I want them to learn that poetry is having fun with language, it’s playing with words, it can be gut wrenchingly sad, it can be silly, it can be beautiful and most importantly it can be their own creative expression. I want them to learn that poetry is in our music, it’s in advertising, it’s in the books they read, the movies they watch… and that there’s a place for poetry in their world.  Thinking about what the end goal is rather than ticking off the learning outcomes for the course has made the subject more relevant and more engaging.

Ultimately, although I teach ELA, I want my students to learn so much more than just my subject…

I want them to learn to love words and language as much as I do…
… to love to read
… to learn how to pick themselves up when the going gets rough
… to learn how to advocate for themselves in a respectful way
… to learn to be respectful and thoughtful
… to learn to be inquisitive
… to learn that it’s okay to make mistakes
… to learn to love themselves
… to learn that the world of social media isn’t “real life”
… to learn that I really do want the best for them and I really do care…


I could probably write a list of a hundred things I want my students to learn… and nowhere on my list would be things like “using apostrophes correctly” or “how to identify a simile”.


What about you?? What do you want your students to learn??