I do not think dispositions are things that can necessarily be taught. They are things that occur within individuals at different times and ways. Dispositions can be affected by individuals, but it's not going to be taught through memorization. Then again, by forcing students to memorize will contribute to their disposition because they will have some sort of response to this procedure. Every child will be different, but they will all reflect different dispositions based on the given situation.
The reason we have so many people majoring in different areas are because of their individual uniqueness. I think that dispositions are reflective of this uniqueness found in each individual. Although we as teachers can try to follow the correct dispositions of teachers, until it is a true disposition and not just a suggestion of a disposition, we will not have what it takes. By this I mean that in our college classes, if our teachers inform us on the most effective teaching practices, but we don't whole-heartedly believe it, we will be doing ourselves and our students no favor.
On the other hand, I think that sometimes, if you want to believe something bad enough, it can be incorporated into who you are as a person. But this calls for a strong desire to occur and if you don't have the right disposition to have that desire to change, it's not going to happen. For instance, I know that I'll have trouble with my confidence in the classroom, but I know that I need to be confident with myself if I am to be the best teacher I can be. Therefore, with time and energy invested in becoming confident, I can change my disposition through what I learned. I do not think that everyone who learns that it's important to be confident can adapt that disposition. As I said before, you need the desire to change in order to do so. Unless something drastic happens to you as a person that reorganizes your whole dispositional demeanor.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Resilience
How do we prevent teachers from quitting their profession three years down the road. I think the answer to this lies in experience. An individual can want to be a teacher very strongly, but until they actually experience it, they will never know if it is right for them or not. I think teachers are a key component to helping students on whether or not they should become teachers or not. Often times, but not always, other teachers can recognize good teachers from potentially harmful ones and I believe that it's education professors' responsibilities to let students know if education isn't the major for them. If the student doesn't take it seriously, they may end up as one of those teachers who quits three years down the road.
I think the most important way to prevent teachers who become ex-teachers from occurring is to provide as much experience as possible. Students need to know what it feels like to be in charge of a group of kids. They need to know what it feels like to be the only one responsible for what those students will learn that year. Although this seems like it can only be accomplished through teaching, there are other ways of gaining experience. For example, getting involved in community outreach groups that deal with kids. Any exposure to being a leader of a group of kids can have a huge affect on if you are to be a teacher or not. If a future teacher avoids these situations which give them experience, they will never know if teaching is right for them or not.
As future teachers, it's our duty to see if this is the major we really want to be involved in. If we don't take the initiative to gain experience, we'll never know until it's too late. So my advice would be to get involved with the school systems around you. Volunteer to help out at schools, tutor, find any chance you can get to deal with the kids that you intend to have a job working with. Unless students are pushed to explore these experiences, teachers will continue to go into their profession and quit. I think colleges can affect this as well. By requiring more classroom experience of students, the students will be forced to find out if that's what they really want to do or not. I think Ed. 185/115 is a great example of this. But this cannot be the only experience we settle for. We must look further and deeper.
I think the most important way to prevent teachers who become ex-teachers from occurring is to provide as much experience as possible. Students need to know what it feels like to be in charge of a group of kids. They need to know what it feels like to be the only one responsible for what those students will learn that year. Although this seems like it can only be accomplished through teaching, there are other ways of gaining experience. For example, getting involved in community outreach groups that deal with kids. Any exposure to being a leader of a group of kids can have a huge affect on if you are to be a teacher or not. If a future teacher avoids these situations which give them experience, they will never know if teaching is right for them or not.
As future teachers, it's our duty to see if this is the major we really want to be involved in. If we don't take the initiative to gain experience, we'll never know until it's too late. So my advice would be to get involved with the school systems around you. Volunteer to help out at schools, tutor, find any chance you can get to deal with the kids that you intend to have a job working with. Unless students are pushed to explore these experiences, teachers will continue to go into their profession and quit. I think colleges can affect this as well. By requiring more classroom experience of students, the students will be forced to find out if that's what they really want to do or not. I think Ed. 185/115 is a great example of this. But this cannot be the only experience we settle for. We must look further and deeper.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Humility
I think humility is one of the most important qualities a teacher must possess. When teachers can admit they're wrong, they have become a better teacher in doing so. If you can tell students they are wrong when they are wrong, they need to be able to tell you when you're wrong too. In order to develop a respecting and meaningful relationship with your students, you need to recognize when you've messed up. If you don't, your students will become frustrated with you and may not respect you as much.
My boyfriend is constantly making me humble myself. Sometimes I try to act like I know more than him, but then he catches me on something and proves me wrong. It's really hard to give in and say he's right because sometimes I feel like my ego is threatened. However, I actually feel better when i do admit I'm wrong. Everyone is wrong sometimes, and we can't learn unless we admit we are wrong sometimes. If we go along believing that the sky is red and refuse to let anyone tell us otherwise, we are hindering our own learning development. We need to never be afraid to question ourselves and never be afraid to acknowledge what other people say about us.
Teachers need to find the balance. We can't be right all of the time. Usually, if we're wrong sometimes, it humanizes us to our students and helps them relate to us. Instead of being the teacher who knows everything, we're a person who knows a lot about life, but not everything. Yet, if we don't know anything and are constantly being humiliated, that's not good. Teachers need to be credible because we're teaching information that needs to take students throughout their educational careers. Also, if we once in a while admit to our faults, students will be more likely to believe and understand us because if we're right all of the time and refuse to be wrong if we are, students will not know when we are telling the truth and when we are not. When we admit our faults, students will know that when we know something, we know it, and when we don't, we admit to it. Students will follow a teacher like this much better than one who is always right or always wrong.
My boyfriend is constantly making me humble myself. Sometimes I try to act like I know more than him, but then he catches me on something and proves me wrong. It's really hard to give in and say he's right because sometimes I feel like my ego is threatened. However, I actually feel better when i do admit I'm wrong. Everyone is wrong sometimes, and we can't learn unless we admit we are wrong sometimes. If we go along believing that the sky is red and refuse to let anyone tell us otherwise, we are hindering our own learning development. We need to never be afraid to question ourselves and never be afraid to acknowledge what other people say about us.
Teachers need to find the balance. We can't be right all of the time. Usually, if we're wrong sometimes, it humanizes us to our students and helps them relate to us. Instead of being the teacher who knows everything, we're a person who knows a lot about life, but not everything. Yet, if we don't know anything and are constantly being humiliated, that's not good. Teachers need to be credible because we're teaching information that needs to take students throughout their educational careers. Also, if we once in a while admit to our faults, students will be more likely to believe and understand us because if we're right all of the time and refuse to be wrong if we are, students will not know when we are telling the truth and when we are not. When we admit our faults, students will know that when we know something, we know it, and when we don't, we admit to it. Students will follow a teacher like this much better than one who is always right or always wrong.
Collaborativeness
Collaboration is an important part of being a teacher. If teachers don't collaborate with one another, their teaching will never change and their students will never benefit. If we never change our teaching, we won't grow as teachers and we won't be teaching to our fullest potential. Collaboration allows us to grow because when we converse with other teachers, we become open to many different ways of teaching. We can incorporate some ideas and we can dismiss others and hopefully, in the process, our teaching will grow into a strong act.
Collaboration is different from group work and cooperative learning because in both of these situations, the work is inflicted upon a group of people. it's not voluntary. Group work can be a negative experience because in a group, people may choose not to do the work, thus leaving it up to one or two people in the group to carry all of them. Group work is when you have something to accomplish and have to consistently converse to reach that goal. This is different from collaboration because although collaboration does contribute to the development of teachers, it is not a goal-oriented act. Collaboration happens on its own most of the time, and it consists of one or more individuals conversing over one or many subjects. Collaboration is when a group of individuals plays ping pong with ideas until they find one worthy of implementing into a real situation. Group work is not so much.
Cooperative learning and collaboration can be easily confused as well. Cooperative learning refers to multiple individuals working together to learn something in or more areas. Again, this is different from collaboration in that collaboration is not meant to learn something new, but inevitably, learning is the result. Also, in cooperative learning, there are answers for things. Collaborating has no answers. All that happens in collaboration is the bouncing of ideas off of one another and then testing those ideas to see if they work. There is no perfect solution to teaching, which is why collaboration is so important. Although we may not get to that point of being a "perfect" teacher, collaboration will get us closer to accomplishing that.
Collaboration is different from group work and cooperative learning because in both of these situations, the work is inflicted upon a group of people. it's not voluntary. Group work can be a negative experience because in a group, people may choose not to do the work, thus leaving it up to one or two people in the group to carry all of them. Group work is when you have something to accomplish and have to consistently converse to reach that goal. This is different from collaboration because although collaboration does contribute to the development of teachers, it is not a goal-oriented act. Collaboration happens on its own most of the time, and it consists of one or more individuals conversing over one or many subjects. Collaboration is when a group of individuals plays ping pong with ideas until they find one worthy of implementing into a real situation. Group work is not so much.
Cooperative learning and collaboration can be easily confused as well. Cooperative learning refers to multiple individuals working together to learn something in or more areas. Again, this is different from collaboration in that collaboration is not meant to learn something new, but inevitably, learning is the result. Also, in cooperative learning, there are answers for things. Collaborating has no answers. All that happens in collaboration is the bouncing of ideas off of one another and then testing those ideas to see if they work. There is no perfect solution to teaching, which is why collaboration is so important. Although we may not get to that point of being a "perfect" teacher, collaboration will get us closer to accomplishing that.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Efficacy
In order to become a highly effective teacher, one must be self-aware, confident, persistent, have a good work ethic, and believe in one's ability. This are important because if we aren't self-aware, then we won't be able to judge ourselves and change the way we teach for the better. It's not a huge deal if we are perfect teachers right off the bat, but that never happens, so we need to be ready to reflect on ourselves and change the way we do things so that we can better accommodate our students. If we fail to be confident in ourselves, that also poses problems as a teacher. If we aren't confident, then kids are going to walk all over us. It's like when you are in a group of friends and you only say things that you know they are going to like. Although this may work for a while, you'll never be the best friend you can be, just as you can never be the best teacher you can be unless you are confident being who you are in every situation.
If we are persistent as teachers, this means we never give up. This is an important quality because if we don't try to help students out, students will never change while they are in your classrooms. To be good teachers, we need to let kids know that we won't give up on them. If they know this, then they will be better students because they feel a connection and a reason to be there. Not only persistence, but work ethic is key. As future teachers, we are role models for children, and we need to show how hard work pays off. If we are a good example of this, students will catch on and hopefully work hard themselves in more areas than your own.
If we don't believe in ourselves, how are we supposed to expect our students to believe in themselves. If we think we're a lousy teacher, then we'll be a lousy teacher, just like students who believe they are worthless, become worthless. Belief is at the center of learning, living, and caring. if we don't believe, we fail. Everything starts small, just as small as a belief, but it is capable of tremendously big things.
I think a lot of these attributes will be attained through experience. I think knowing about them is the first step to implementing them into you as a person, but in order to actually establish these values into ourselves, we must try. By forcing ourselves to believe in ourselves, we will eventually believe in ourselves, even if we don't at first. We must work hard to have a good work ethic and we must always, always, always be open minded. Without noting our own struggles and short comings, we will never be as affective as the one who does take note of these. As future teachers, we must always be aware of ourselves in our journey to becoming a teacher. For without it, our journey will come up short.
If we are persistent as teachers, this means we never give up. This is an important quality because if we don't try to help students out, students will never change while they are in your classrooms. To be good teachers, we need to let kids know that we won't give up on them. If they know this, then they will be better students because they feel a connection and a reason to be there. Not only persistence, but work ethic is key. As future teachers, we are role models for children, and we need to show how hard work pays off. If we are a good example of this, students will catch on and hopefully work hard themselves in more areas than your own.
If we don't believe in ourselves, how are we supposed to expect our students to believe in themselves. If we think we're a lousy teacher, then we'll be a lousy teacher, just like students who believe they are worthless, become worthless. Belief is at the center of learning, living, and caring. if we don't believe, we fail. Everything starts small, just as small as a belief, but it is capable of tremendously big things.
I think a lot of these attributes will be attained through experience. I think knowing about them is the first step to implementing them into you as a person, but in order to actually establish these values into ourselves, we must try. By forcing ourselves to believe in ourselves, we will eventually believe in ourselves, even if we don't at first. We must work hard to have a good work ethic and we must always, always, always be open minded. Without noting our own struggles and short comings, we will never be as affective as the one who does take note of these. As future teachers, we must always be aware of ourselves in our journey to becoming a teacher. For without it, our journey will come up short.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Creativity
Creativity. Where would we be without it? It's through creativity and individual originality that virtually everything in human existence has occurred. The you tube video was an amazing speech and it really was interesting to hear what he had to say about education and creativity. Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole speech to me was when he talked about Jillian who most likely had adhd and instead of being put on medication, was told to go to a dance school, where she flourished. I found this extremely interesting because I've never really agreed with medicating those with so-called "disabilities", but our society is so structured into classrooms where children are told to sit still all day and regurgitate information that the idea of sending a child to a dance studio in place of school is out of the question. However, each and every one of us is unique, so why wouldn't we want to do our best to cater to each and every one of our talents/abilities?
I also thought i was really interesting that he said our schools don't work the body, they work the mind, and mostly one side of the mind. I've been thinking about this for a while because I think that nutrition and exercise are essential parts of every person and that if we don't take care of ourselves physically, we will be worse off mentally. This can be contributed to the idea Ted explains as education taking away creativity. His first statements about how mistakes are viewed as bad things in school take away creativity in children. I think this is absolutely true. Individuals are scared to fail and miss a spelling word. Schools try to make every individual the same because they expect all children to learn information at the same time, perform at the same level, and show the same amount of discipline. It's quite ridiculous if you ask me.
I found that in my elementary school, some individuals were told that they were really creative. Creativity and Imagination is only encouraged in schools when children show talent in it. For instance, in art and music, if you can't draw a good picture or perform good music, teachers don't think you're creative. I have found that the individuals that are not as affected by the classroom are then ones that are most creative. By this I mean that if a student doesn't perform extremely well in the classroom and doesn't take it to heart isn't afraid to try new things because they are already know they're not the top of their class so what do they have to lose? It's a personality trait. Those who have a nag for creativity will be creative, while those who aren't talented will become classroom junkies.
I think that creativity and imagination above all else should be encouraged in the classrooms for the 21st century. Our world is changing and revolutionizing and in order to come up with new ways of doing things and help our world out for the better, we need creative individuals. If our world gets stuck in science and math, what good are those professions without imagination. We need to be creative and if schools are discouraging this, our world could be affected as a whole. Our school systems need to be restructured.
I also thought i was really interesting that he said our schools don't work the body, they work the mind, and mostly one side of the mind. I've been thinking about this for a while because I think that nutrition and exercise are essential parts of every person and that if we don't take care of ourselves physically, we will be worse off mentally. This can be contributed to the idea Ted explains as education taking away creativity. His first statements about how mistakes are viewed as bad things in school take away creativity in children. I think this is absolutely true. Individuals are scared to fail and miss a spelling word. Schools try to make every individual the same because they expect all children to learn information at the same time, perform at the same level, and show the same amount of discipline. It's quite ridiculous if you ask me.
I found that in my elementary school, some individuals were told that they were really creative. Creativity and Imagination is only encouraged in schools when children show talent in it. For instance, in art and music, if you can't draw a good picture or perform good music, teachers don't think you're creative. I have found that the individuals that are not as affected by the classroom are then ones that are most creative. By this I mean that if a student doesn't perform extremely well in the classroom and doesn't take it to heart isn't afraid to try new things because they are already know they're not the top of their class so what do they have to lose? It's a personality trait. Those who have a nag for creativity will be creative, while those who aren't talented will become classroom junkies.
I think that creativity and imagination above all else should be encouraged in the classrooms for the 21st century. Our world is changing and revolutionizing and in order to come up with new ways of doing things and help our world out for the better, we need creative individuals. If our world gets stuck in science and math, what good are those professions without imagination. We need to be creative and if schools are discouraging this, our world could be affected as a whole. Our school systems need to be restructured.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Reflection
I did not like Monday's class at all. It was totally frustrating and infuriating. I was a part of one of the groups that did not support the No Child Left Behind Plan. It was frustrating because everyone in the other groups actually acted like more assessment was the way to go. I don' t think I could have done that good of a job of role playing if I had been in their shoes. It was also irritating because if something like what we modeled were to actually happen in real life and succeed, I think that would be the only thing that would make me stop being a teacher. If I had to teach kids only for assessment, that would ruin the whole teaching experience for me.
I also felt like I had some really valid points, but I can never get a word in edgewise with anyone in our class. As for the professors, it was frustrating because it was hard at first to take them seriously, but they did such a good job of role modeling that it just really started to piss me off.
I think role modeling is effective if you want kids to get passionate about something. My face felt red hot as I walked out of that class Monday night because I felt helpless and angry. It's an awful feeling and I hope I never have to feel it in that type of a situation again. As in, I hope when I become a teacher, there is never a meeting that is striving for the outcome this role modeling activity was striving for.
I also felt like I had some really valid points, but I can never get a word in edgewise with anyone in our class. As for the professors, it was frustrating because it was hard at first to take them seriously, but they did such a good job of role modeling that it just really started to piss me off.
I think role modeling is effective if you want kids to get passionate about something. My face felt red hot as I walked out of that class Monday night because I felt helpless and angry. It's an awful feeling and I hope I never have to feel it in that type of a situation again. As in, I hope when I become a teacher, there is never a meeting that is striving for the outcome this role modeling activity was striving for.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Reflectiveness
Reflectiveness. Why is it so difficult for people to reflect on their own actions. I think it's quite obvious. I would say it's because they're afraid to look at their actions because they don't want to know what they have done wrong. Nobody wants to admit that they were wrong because that means you messed up. People don't want to mess up and if you're admitting to yourself you messed up on something, it's degrading to your ego if you don't approach it correctly.
I know lots of people that will stick with what they have said in the past even if they feel it's not correct because the shame they might feel if they admitted their error would be more detrimental. I think that reflection is important in all situations. The only way we grow as people is by making mistakes and admitting them. We're all human and it's good to acknowledge that yes, even ourselves are human beings and we are prone to make mistakes and bad decisions. However, being humans, we have the ability to think about our actions and try to look into them so that we can change them for future situations.
It is most important for teachers to reflect because it's the heart of teaching. Teaching is a career that requires constant individual growth. If teachers refuse to reflect on themselves, they won't be changing. Sometimes change turns out negative, which means you must make another change and hope it comes out positively. If teachers do not reflect, they will become boring, dull, and not in tune to children's needs. If a teacher does not reflect on what is going on in the classroom because what they're doing is "supposed" to be working, that class will be headed nowhere fast. Teachers must recognize this and be willing to change their practices. A lot of times, teachers will think that they are the authority and that they know better than the kids what should be happening. However, this is not always the case. Teachers must be open minded and accepting of even pre-k children's ideas.
I think the most effective way to reflect is situational. In some cases, trying something new and sticking with it for a week before reflecting could be very useful because then you get a good grasp of what went on during that week and you can understand if it worked or not and if you need to change anything to make it better. other times, reflection happens at a larger scale. Sometimes teachers are unaware of why their class isn't responding the best until they try a new approach. This may take up to a year because sometimes teachers will have a certain attitude for a year and then the next year decide they want to try a different attitude and see if it works better. Finally, if something is going horribly wrong, such as kids are not listening at all to what you have to say and are rambunctious, reflection must occur immediately to settle the situation at hand.
I know lots of people that will stick with what they have said in the past even if they feel it's not correct because the shame they might feel if they admitted their error would be more detrimental. I think that reflection is important in all situations. The only way we grow as people is by making mistakes and admitting them. We're all human and it's good to acknowledge that yes, even ourselves are human beings and we are prone to make mistakes and bad decisions. However, being humans, we have the ability to think about our actions and try to look into them so that we can change them for future situations.
It is most important for teachers to reflect because it's the heart of teaching. Teaching is a career that requires constant individual growth. If teachers refuse to reflect on themselves, they won't be changing. Sometimes change turns out negative, which means you must make another change and hope it comes out positively. If teachers do not reflect, they will become boring, dull, and not in tune to children's needs. If a teacher does not reflect on what is going on in the classroom because what they're doing is "supposed" to be working, that class will be headed nowhere fast. Teachers must recognize this and be willing to change their practices. A lot of times, teachers will think that they are the authority and that they know better than the kids what should be happening. However, this is not always the case. Teachers must be open minded and accepting of even pre-k children's ideas.
I think the most effective way to reflect is situational. In some cases, trying something new and sticking with it for a week before reflecting could be very useful because then you get a good grasp of what went on during that week and you can understand if it worked or not and if you need to change anything to make it better. other times, reflection happens at a larger scale. Sometimes teachers are unaware of why their class isn't responding the best until they try a new approach. This may take up to a year because sometimes teachers will have a certain attitude for a year and then the next year decide they want to try a different attitude and see if it works better. Finally, if something is going horribly wrong, such as kids are not listening at all to what you have to say and are rambunctious, reflection must occur immediately to settle the situation at hand.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Passion
I could talk for hours about passion and teaching. Basically it comes down to one thing, if you don't have passion for what you're teaching, don't teach it. Passion can engage the most unwilling students and a lack of passion can turn away the most interested students. As teachers, passion is the key ingredient to both your (the teacher's) and the students' success in that subject. Just because you can teach facts and students can spit them back up on exams does not mean that they learned anything. It's our job as teachers to get kids excited about subjects and learn information that will stick with them and contribute to how each individual shapes their world views.
I have had lots of positive and negative influences from teachers that show passion and those that do not. In elementary school, I don't think i had one teacher that was enthusiastic or passionate about social studies. In all of my social studies classes, we would spend most of the time on that subject taking turns reading. Then we would inevitably complete a worksheet for the next day, which people would always just copy answers from the book. This caused me to dislike social studies a lot and I didn't like it at all coming into middle school and high school.
When I reached high school I took History and my teacher was the most boring teacher I've ever had, even in elementary social studies. He was even worse because he had a monotone voice, he basically had us read out of the chapter every day and watch movies once and a while, and then he'd get crabby if we didn't participate in discussions he led. However, his discussions were basically question/answer discussions, which I don't even consider a true discussion.
But then I entered my first year of high school and I took American History and my view of history and social studies did a complete belly flop. My teacher brought in artifacts from different time periods and we had to make a newspaper that represented the 1920's and I hardly ever remember reading out of the book. He held some great class discussions and got us debating about how some events in history relate to the present. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and it changed my perspective about history completely.
Other subjects, such as English, were also directly influenced by my teachers. I hated English in elementary school because it was reading and writing and worksheets. We never got to do anything exciting with it. But then I had seventh grade english with a teacher who had us journal every day and I remember that she would sometimes raise her voice so much that no one could sleep in that class. However, her voice raising wasn't because she was upset, but because she was so excited about what she was talking about. For instance, we were doing a unit on The Hobbit and A Christmas Carol and she would always get so excited and passionate about each of these books that I don't think anyone in that class would have dared to go against her because she got people excited about what she was teaching.
My most memorable professor with enthusiasm and passion was here at Luther. Professor Skitolsky from the Philosophy Department. I have never been so aware of someone's passion as I was of hers. From the first day of class i was perplexed by her. At one point in the year, she got so excited talking about Socrates that she threw her pencil, it bounced off of the ground, and landed right in the waste basket! It was not only very entertaining, but she acted like it was nothing and just kept almost shouting about how wonderful Socrates was! It was the best class I've ever taken and I don't think any class could ever compare and I know that it's because of her passion. I had no idea about philosophy before I took that class, but by the end of it, Philosophy became the essence of me. I know it was passion that made this interest possible.
I have had lots of positive and negative influences from teachers that show passion and those that do not. In elementary school, I don't think i had one teacher that was enthusiastic or passionate about social studies. In all of my social studies classes, we would spend most of the time on that subject taking turns reading. Then we would inevitably complete a worksheet for the next day, which people would always just copy answers from the book. This caused me to dislike social studies a lot and I didn't like it at all coming into middle school and high school.
When I reached high school I took History and my teacher was the most boring teacher I've ever had, even in elementary social studies. He was even worse because he had a monotone voice, he basically had us read out of the chapter every day and watch movies once and a while, and then he'd get crabby if we didn't participate in discussions he led. However, his discussions were basically question/answer discussions, which I don't even consider a true discussion.
But then I entered my first year of high school and I took American History and my view of history and social studies did a complete belly flop. My teacher brought in artifacts from different time periods and we had to make a newspaper that represented the 1920's and I hardly ever remember reading out of the book. He held some great class discussions and got us debating about how some events in history relate to the present. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and it changed my perspective about history completely.
Other subjects, such as English, were also directly influenced by my teachers. I hated English in elementary school because it was reading and writing and worksheets. We never got to do anything exciting with it. But then I had seventh grade english with a teacher who had us journal every day and I remember that she would sometimes raise her voice so much that no one could sleep in that class. However, her voice raising wasn't because she was upset, but because she was so excited about what she was talking about. For instance, we were doing a unit on The Hobbit and A Christmas Carol and she would always get so excited and passionate about each of these books that I don't think anyone in that class would have dared to go against her because she got people excited about what she was teaching.
My most memorable professor with enthusiasm and passion was here at Luther. Professor Skitolsky from the Philosophy Department. I have never been so aware of someone's passion as I was of hers. From the first day of class i was perplexed by her. At one point in the year, she got so excited talking about Socrates that she threw her pencil, it bounced off of the ground, and landed right in the waste basket! It was not only very entertaining, but she acted like it was nothing and just kept almost shouting about how wonderful Socrates was! It was the best class I've ever taken and I don't think any class could ever compare and I know that it's because of her passion. I had no idea about philosophy before I took that class, but by the end of it, Philosophy became the essence of me. I know it was passion that made this interest possible.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Authenticity
Authenticity is what makes or breaks every classroom. I believe that authenticity cannot be faked and children are the most capable human beings of telling if someone is faking it or not. If you're authentic and mean what you say whole-heartedly, your class will be a fun place. I think that the best teachers are those that are authentically enthusiastic. When you have a teacher that cares about what they're teaching and shows it, children respond the best. All of my favorite classes and teachers were ones where the teacher was real. If they were true to who they were and even if I didn't agree with who they were, if they were consistent and believable I enjoyed the class and learned a lot. I think kids are much more likely to participate and listen when their teacher is authentic.
Authenticity should be the easiest part of teaching. If people don't know how to be themselves in public, nothing will ever be real and passionate. If people choose to just play the part of a teacher, they will be a lot less successful than people who really want to be a teacher. To me, teaching is something that should never be faked. You should want to be a teacher and if you want to be a teacher, your authenticity will be there.
Then again, you may be inauthentic in some situations versus others. I think this can be a good thing. For instance, if a child is misbehaving and even though you think what they're doing is funny, you still need to follow through with guidelines and rules for them. I think that this kind of faking is acceptable. Classroom management can sometimes be inauthentic but only because there should be rules and regulations set down that you must follow through with. If you follow through with these rules and regulations despite the situation, you are in a sense, following through with your authenticity. I say this because when you put the rules into place you were doing so because you thought at the time they were important and necessary and you should have set those rules down with your most clear intentions of doing the best you could. Therefore, when you perhaps fake your personal opinion in order to follow through with a previously set authenticity, then it's okay.
Like everything, there is always a situation that prevents true authenticity from occurring. There is always a devil's advocate. However, with authenticity, if you are true to yourself in the broadest ways and are meaningful in your approach to teaching, that is the first step to becoming the best teacher you can be.
Authenticity should be the easiest part of teaching. If people don't know how to be themselves in public, nothing will ever be real and passionate. If people choose to just play the part of a teacher, they will be a lot less successful than people who really want to be a teacher. To me, teaching is something that should never be faked. You should want to be a teacher and if you want to be a teacher, your authenticity will be there.
Then again, you may be inauthentic in some situations versus others. I think this can be a good thing. For instance, if a child is misbehaving and even though you think what they're doing is funny, you still need to follow through with guidelines and rules for them. I think that this kind of faking is acceptable. Classroom management can sometimes be inauthentic but only because there should be rules and regulations set down that you must follow through with. If you follow through with these rules and regulations despite the situation, you are in a sense, following through with your authenticity. I say this because when you put the rules into place you were doing so because you thought at the time they were important and necessary and you should have set those rules down with your most clear intentions of doing the best you could. Therefore, when you perhaps fake your personal opinion in order to follow through with a previously set authenticity, then it's okay.
Like everything, there is always a situation that prevents true authenticity from occurring. There is always a devil's advocate. However, with authenticity, if you are true to yourself in the broadest ways and are meaningful in your approach to teaching, that is the first step to becoming the best teacher you can be.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Compassion
Compassion. I've never really been affected by a teacher's compassion for me or my classmates. I don't necessarily think it's an essential quality of teachers, but sometimes I think it's worthwhile. I think it's important for teachers, especially at an elementary level, to be compassionate. Younger children soak up attention and sympathy from elders. Like everything though, it should be done in moderation. For instance, teachers that are overly sympathetic will never get anything done because they always feel bad for children. However, if there is no compassion what-so-ever in a teacher, children will cringe at the thought of going to class. It's important for teachers to find a happy medium. If a teacher can be sensitive to a child's feelings without letting things go overboard, students and teacher will benefit from the situation. This way both are being listened to but not doted upon.
In my life, I have only once been very affected by a teacher's compassion. However, it could be arguably not compassion, but just kindness. When I was in first grade, I spilled milk all over my shirt. It was towards the end of the day and I was in such a fluster that I missed my bus. My teacher felt bad for me, I think, so she gave me a new shirt and gave me a ride home. Whether it was an act of compassion or kindness, or both, I'll always remember that day.
On another note, i do not recall having any teacher that was obviously compassionate. I find the word is hard to be distributed to a teacher because teachers are just doing their job. Although teachers undoubtedly become attached to their students, I find compassion is more a term for parents and children, or significant others. I'm slightly confused with the word actually because every time I think of it I think of the word passion, and then i get thrown off guard. The dictionary describes compassion as a feeling of sympathy towards, or mercy. I feel that compassion should be an asset of teachers, but not at an extreme level. Compassion could make the difference for some students. If someone finally seems to care and sympathize with them, they will eat it all up and hopefully will gain some self-esteem with it. However over doing it could result in attachment in an unhealthy way. If I child is too clingy I think that they are insecure and that's not the best quality for anyone at any age to have. Confidence should be gained from compassion and overdoing compassion could result in insecurity.
In my life, I have only once been very affected by a teacher's compassion. However, it could be arguably not compassion, but just kindness. When I was in first grade, I spilled milk all over my shirt. It was towards the end of the day and I was in such a fluster that I missed my bus. My teacher felt bad for me, I think, so she gave me a new shirt and gave me a ride home. Whether it was an act of compassion or kindness, or both, I'll always remember that day.
On another note, i do not recall having any teacher that was obviously compassionate. I find the word is hard to be distributed to a teacher because teachers are just doing their job. Although teachers undoubtedly become attached to their students, I find compassion is more a term for parents and children, or significant others. I'm slightly confused with the word actually because every time I think of it I think of the word passion, and then i get thrown off guard. The dictionary describes compassion as a feeling of sympathy towards, or mercy. I feel that compassion should be an asset of teachers, but not at an extreme level. Compassion could make the difference for some students. If someone finally seems to care and sympathize with them, they will eat it all up and hopefully will gain some self-esteem with it. However over doing it could result in attachment in an unhealthy way. If I child is too clingy I think that they are insecure and that's not the best quality for anyone at any age to have. Confidence should be gained from compassion and overdoing compassion could result in insecurity.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Respect
Respect. If I were to define respect, I would define it as the understanding and cooperation between one or more people. It's hard to define because it's not really definable, there are so many ways to show and gain respect that there is not one way to define it. However, in the sense of teaching, if children are cooperating and understanding of the teacher, I think it's because they respect their teacher. Yet they might not because teachers can have a cooperative and understanding class by being extremely strict and harsh. In this case, the students aren't respecting the teacher, but are afraid of the teacher. Yet, if the teacher is understanding and cooperative as well as the students, that may be a closer depiction of a classroom of respect.
If I were to look at a classroom in which a teacher and the students were respectful of each other, I would probably describe it as a comfortable environment where everyone is answering questions, the students are not acting up or horse-playing, even if the teacher isn't looking. I would also probably see the teacher being uncritical and not getting frustrated with the students. The teacher would also probably be very hands on and focused on each individual kid. The teacher would not get upset or angry with the students. And finally, if i were to walk into a respectful classroom, I would not feel any tension or uneasiness.
I think respect can make or break a whole year for a teacher and the students. If the students respect the teacher and the teacher respects the students, a lot,lot more can be accomplished than if neither respect each other. Although it is possible to teach a class without the respect of the students and the teacher, it is much more fun and enjoyable if respect is present. I find that the younger children are, the more respect is found in the classroom, and the older children get, respect becomes rare. This makes sense because younger children enjoy learning because teachers make it fun. The expectations are not as demanding and so there is nothing for students to get upset about. Usually children do not have tons of obligations outside of school and they do not get swamped with homework. At an older age, however, there are so many things kids have to do outside of school and students start either loving or hating classes. If teachers don't try to cater to high-schooler's needs and wants, there will naturally be less respect shown towards teachers. Most high school teachers have a set plan and they stick to it, despite the many extracurriculars students are involved with. Also, often times high school teachers do not try to understand high school students because it is difficult. They are going through a lot at this age. This doesn't mean they shouldn't try because I believe the end result would be better for students and teachers.
I think respect is established through giving respect. At the essence of respect is trust. Students must be able to trust that their teacher is not going to assign a huge, awful assignment, or that they are a horribly tough grader. Also, the students need to be able to trust the teacher in areas outside of academics. I believe that respect lies outside of the classroom setting. The feeling goes deeper than homework assignments. The teacher must express a cordial care for his/her students. If the students know the teacher doesn't care about them in any way, shape or form, most likely, the students won't care at all for the teacher, either. Teachers always bring a part of themselves into teaching and if teachers try to expand that part of their teaching, I feel respect will be better accomplished. At the elementary level, respect is a little easier. Basically, being kind and understanding are the two most important qualities a teacher should possess in order to gain respect. Also, to trust in the kids that they won't do something naughty and if they do, not to freak out about it, but talk about it and explain that everyone makes mistakes. When teachers do something that kids cannot predict, outside of the academic level, respect is gained.
If I were to look at a classroom in which a teacher and the students were respectful of each other, I would probably describe it as a comfortable environment where everyone is answering questions, the students are not acting up or horse-playing, even if the teacher isn't looking. I would also probably see the teacher being uncritical and not getting frustrated with the students. The teacher would also probably be very hands on and focused on each individual kid. The teacher would not get upset or angry with the students. And finally, if i were to walk into a respectful classroom, I would not feel any tension or uneasiness.
I think respect can make or break a whole year for a teacher and the students. If the students respect the teacher and the teacher respects the students, a lot,lot more can be accomplished than if neither respect each other. Although it is possible to teach a class without the respect of the students and the teacher, it is much more fun and enjoyable if respect is present. I find that the younger children are, the more respect is found in the classroom, and the older children get, respect becomes rare. This makes sense because younger children enjoy learning because teachers make it fun. The expectations are not as demanding and so there is nothing for students to get upset about. Usually children do not have tons of obligations outside of school and they do not get swamped with homework. At an older age, however, there are so many things kids have to do outside of school and students start either loving or hating classes. If teachers don't try to cater to high-schooler's needs and wants, there will naturally be less respect shown towards teachers. Most high school teachers have a set plan and they stick to it, despite the many extracurriculars students are involved with. Also, often times high school teachers do not try to understand high school students because it is difficult. They are going through a lot at this age. This doesn't mean they shouldn't try because I believe the end result would be better for students and teachers.
I think respect is established through giving respect. At the essence of respect is trust. Students must be able to trust that their teacher is not going to assign a huge, awful assignment, or that they are a horribly tough grader. Also, the students need to be able to trust the teacher in areas outside of academics. I believe that respect lies outside of the classroom setting. The feeling goes deeper than homework assignments. The teacher must express a cordial care for his/her students. If the students know the teacher doesn't care about them in any way, shape or form, most likely, the students won't care at all for the teacher, either. Teachers always bring a part of themselves into teaching and if teachers try to expand that part of their teaching, I feel respect will be better accomplished. At the elementary level, respect is a little easier. Basically, being kind and understanding are the two most important qualities a teacher should possess in order to gain respect. Also, to trust in the kids that they won't do something naughty and if they do, not to freak out about it, but talk about it and explain that everyone makes mistakes. When teachers do something that kids cannot predict, outside of the academic level, respect is gained.
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