Bringing Taekwondo Into My Math Class

This summer, my 3.5 year old started taking taekwondo and as a mom it's been amazing to watch her practice, grow & have fun. It has also been inspiring, as a teacher, to watch her classes & her teachers as they teach, so much so that I wanted to write down some of my thoughts on here, as we begin to (slowly) get ready for the next school year.

The first thing that is evident in every single class that she has participated in is that the students and the teachers are having fun. There is joy! There is seriousness! There is laughter! There is learning happening! Every single class also has multiple teachers (two sometimes even three or more) and at various times in the 30-40 minute lesson, there are whole-group activities, small group activities, teachers moving between different groups, sometimes one-on-one practice happening and even though it is clear to everyone who is what color belt, there is no stigma in being a "lower belt" and it is just lovely to watch. As a parent and as a teacher, I so appreciate the magic that is happening! Students progress is celebrated. There is always clear instruction happening. Students are not told what they can't do, but rather they work toward what they can do. Just the other day, a student was doing something other than what the instructor was focusing on (my daughter's class consists of 2-4 year olds so focusing is something always being worked on), and the master turned it into an activity that the whole class would do and thanked the student for thinking up this drill. There are belt tests and ceremonies and not one single standardized test or bubble sheet to fill out. Every lesson really is just lovely to watch.

I want all of my classes to be that next year! I want fun. I want joy. I want seriousness. I want growth. I want laughter. I want learning to happen. Every. Single. Day. I know that there are differences. There are some things that really are beyond my control - class size, content, etc, and teaching Algebra 1 to 8th graders is not the same as teaching taekwondo to toddlers, but good teaching pedagogy is good teaching pedagogy, and I want to be the best teacher that I can possibly be! So, what can I do?

As I begin to plan for year seventeen in the classroom, the themes that I keep being drawn to are joy, fun & laughter. It is so easy to get bogged down by the million little things that make our profession hard - lack of time, lack of resources, lack of respect for our role as professionals... but no job, especially teaching, is sustainable if we cannot find the good in the everyday. I want to think more about ways I can bring the same energy to my math classes because I want joy. I want fun. I want laughter. I want growth. I want learning. Every Single Day.