"Kicking my butt" - itslearning

This morning, I was asked in my teacher-based-team (which deals with Tech @ EHS) meeting:

"How is itslearning going?"  My remark . . . "It's kicking my butt!"

I have thought about that remark all day since.  At first one would think that the remark means itslearning has been some horrific experience for me and my classroom.

But, that's far from the truth.

"It's kicking my butt!"  Think about when someone is talking about a new workout they are doing and they say, "It's kicking my butt!"  What's that mean?  It was awesome!  It was a challenge!  It was going to make them better!  It was giving them ownership!

That's what itslearning is for me . . . students are engaged, students are asking me questions, students are working with one another, students are looking to see what they need to do next, students are learning.

Is it easy?  A quick fix?  No way!  And I love that . . . I was overwhelmed this past week with paper work as students were moving through the topics swiftly and smoothly, so I thought I'd go "traditional" for the last 3 days of the week.

And you know what?  I have disliked the past 2 days with a passion (1 more to go tomorrow!).  Why?  Students off task, students motivation noticeably dropped, student effort inconsistent, and my patience shortened!  And students who want to work ahead are frustrated, as am I.

"Kicking my butt!" - That's what I need to motivate me, to challenge me to create better lessons, better opportunities for my students to learn and be engaged in my classroom.  Does tough mean it's not worth it?  I think most who have busted their butts are happy in the end.  And, I too, will be happy in the end.

I hope itslearning keeps "kicking my butt" and I will continue to become a better teacher!