Who I am, what I've done, and what I believe about teaching and learning

by Suzanne Forman

I remember sitting in high school thinking to myself, “There has to be more to teaching than lecture, read, worksheet, and test.” I just knew there had to be more to working with kids than what I was experiencing. Then I took French and Journalism — wham! It was a whole new world.

For the first time in my life I experienced “hands on” learning. Fully immersed in the French language and writing articles for the school paper, I was in heaven. Mrs. Stuart and Mrs. Witt showed me what it could be like in a classroom without worksheets, lectures, irrelevant readings, and tortuous tests.

It wasn’t until I did my student teaching that I think I fully appreciated what those two teachers showed me. My cooperating teacher was a lecture, notes, and quiz man, and I didn’t want to be that way at all. It was a struggle for both of us. While he was very passionate about his subjects, he had been teaching for over 15 years and his routine had become, well, routine.

I knew after I finished my student teaching that I wasn’t ready to be responsible for the education of young people. I wasn’t quite sure I even wanted to have to do all that was expected of teachers. So I spent several years living and experiencing what life had to offer outside of school.

When I decided to venture back into the classroom, many things had changed. Portfolios were being used, hands-on projects were acceptable, authentic interaction between teachers and students had made its way through the classroom door, worksheets were on the wane. By 1990, I felt that education was ready for me, and that I was ready for it.

Unfortunately, when I gave my first essay assignment, a flood of red ink rushed through my mind. I almost had to leave the room to throw up. I was terrified. Looking at the faces of my students, I couldn’t, in good conscience, make them write something I had been trained to massacre with my red pen. At that moment I knew I had to find a unique approach to teaching writing and reading, as well as an alternative method to assess student work. It took a few years, but thankfully, one spring and summer, I was introduced to Teaching that Makes Sense.

The strategies and practices of Teaching that Makes Sense have made my classroom all about what’s best for kids — what’s best and for me, too. I believe with all my heart and soul that when my students walk out of my classroom they are prepared to use strategies that will make them productive, successful citizens, that they have experienced challenges related to real life, that they have worked through authentic situations that not only make them better readers and writers, but better thinkers and problem solvers — and better people, too.

My Philosophy

Education is guidance and preparation. As a high school teacher, my main responsibilities are to guide students in choosing a path for their lives that embodies the best expression of who they are, and to ensure that they are fully prepared to meet the challenges of that choice. To fulfill my responsibilities, I provide students with exposure to real life knowledge and authentic experiences, and I help them discover and refine the skills necessary to recognize important problems, assess them accurately, understand the consequences, develop strategies to solve them, and apply those strategies to achieve successful results.

I have often wondered when it was decided that specific content had to be taught at specific grades. These days especially, it pains me to watch so many teachers, constrained by tightly mandated curricula, turn teaching into a dull, mechanical, ineffective trudge through the day. While I firmly believe there is basic knowledge every student needs, it seems we have forgotten why we come to work and who we come to do that work for.

Conquering the mandates and focusing my teaching on relevant problems and real life strategies have been the keys to creating a classroom that meets the emotional, intellectual, social, physical, and spiritual needs of all my students. Yet authentic experiences, real life assessments, and research-based practices seem to be taboo these days. Instead, it’s all about buying the new program, following the new textbook, taking the new test.

In order for teaching to be successful, leaning must have meaning, and to me that means creating a classroom that is focused on what is best for each individual student, a goal that cannot be achieved when everyone is forced to do the same thing, the same way, at the same time. Instead, I want to engage my students authentically, to encourage them to explore the world around them, to expect them to take risks and to try new approaches. I want my students to excel at testing, yes, but always, and most of all, to exemplify real life learning.

My Resume

Teaching

• English I teacher, Kearney R-I School District, Kearney, MO, 1995-present

• American Government, Kearney R-I School District, Kearney, MO, 1995 -1998

• American History, 7th Grade, Kearney R-I School District, Kearney, MO, 1995-1997

• Communication Arts, 7th Grade, Kearney R-I School District, Kearney, MO, 1995-1996

• Communication Arts, 8th Grade, Kearney R-I School District, Kearney, MO, 1996-1998

• World Studies I, Kearney R-I School District, Kearney, MO, 1998-2001

Professional Committees

• Writing Coordinator, High School, 1999-Present

• Communication Arts Secondary Chair, 2000-Present

• Curriculum Development Communication Arts, Grades 6-12, 1998-Present

• Principal’s Advisory Committee, 1997-Present

• Meet and Confer Co-Chair, 1997-2003

• At-Risk Committee, Co-Chair, 1995-2000

• Secondary Vice-President, Kearney Education Association, 1994-1996, 1998-2000

• Building Representative, Kearney Education Association, 2001-2003

Student Committees

• Bulldog Broadcast News Co-Sponsor, 2003

• Homecoming Committee, 1996-Present

• Head Freshman Class Sponsor, 2000-Present

• Spirit Week Committee, 1996-Present

• Academic Team Sponsor, 1997-2002

• National Honor Society Sponsor, 1999-2001

• Varsity Cheerleading Sponsor, 1994-2000

Writing

• “It’s All About Kids”, bi-monthly column on parenting and education for The Kearney Courier, 2001-2003

Presenting

• Greater Kansas City Writing Project, 2003

• Missouri Write to Learn Conference, 2003

• MNEA Good Teaching Conference, 2002

• MATE Writing Conference, 2001

Other Work Experience

• Heartland Women’s Healthcare, 1991-1994

• Allergy Specialists, Inc., 1990-1991

• Trinity Lutheran Hospital, 1985-1989

Education

• Master of Arts in Teaching, Webster University, Kansas City. MO, 2001

• Grades 7-9 Language Arts Certification, 1995

• Bachelor of Science in Education, Secondary Social Studies, Minor in Criminal Justice Administration and Sociology, CMSU, Warrensburg, MO, 1988

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