“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
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Some things, we acquire simply by observing and mimicking; walking, talking, running and jumping for example; but their is a plethora of information which lives outside the reach of things which we are able to just observe, hear, and store away in the back of our minds until needed. Four years ago when I made up my mind to pursue what I had known that I was destined to do, which is educate young people, I realized those things which I had acquired throughout life and stored away in the back of my mind were simply not adequate enough for me to succeed in the field of education. I began as an 8th grade history teacher and truly felt the extent of my knowledge of the subject was sufficient enough for me to be successful. As you can probably imagine; I struggled profusely. The obstacles which I encountered forced me to reevaluate my approach to teaching and become a learner once again. See, as teachers we must understand that we must always be students, thirsty to cultivate our minds in order to cultivate the minds of students at every level, regardless of the varying tiers of the students' understanding or academic ability. I had to understand that during my time as an adult student, I could not take the same approach to teaching or use the same teaching techniques as my last college professor used in the classes which I enrolled. Education is changing, students are becoming more socially involved with things which often divert their attention away from academics, and the days of "I speak and you remember" type teaching is fading away at a rapid pace. Because of the lack-luster efforts and sub-par to par state test scores; combined with the somewhat limited attention span some students tend to display; I have taken a new approach to instruction. By introducing more student - centered instruction, student - lead meaningful discussions about the content, lessons centered around problem-solving, and implementation of technology into the classroom; I have began to not only be able to reach my students and hold their attention, but I am also providing them with tools which will better prepare them for real - life situations; tools that will last them a lifetime.
MY GOAL A TEACHER IS TO EMPOWER STUDENTS WITH THE SKILLS THEY NEED TO OVERCOME ANY OBSTACLE WHICH LIES ON THEIR EDUCATIONAL PATHWAY, BY PROVIDING THEM WITH THE TOOLS WHICH WILL ALLOW THEM TO INVESTIGATE, DISCOVER, AND REGURGITATE INFORMATION PROVIDED TO THEM IN A MANNER WHICH INSPIRES THEM TO LEARN AND GARNERS THEIR MOVEMENT BEYOND THEIR CURRENT ACADEMIC LEVELS. You may wonder specifically the manner in which I intend to implement the goals I have set which, will push my students into higher levels of understanding. One thing I have learned is that a quiet classroom, during instruction, is a classroom in which students are not fully engaged. Beginning with seating, unlike the traditional rows of desk, students will be seated in groups. These groups will rotate ever so often and will be organized based on student performance or academic levels. This will allow me to differentiate by working with certain groups while not holding other students back. Each member of the group will have defined roles, i.e. writer, reporter, artist etc. I know that each student may be able to express their understanding in different manners and each student may be able to gain a better understanding from the method in which other students in the group specialize. For example, Bill doesn't read all that well but is an excellent artist. Jill is a great writer but doesn't like to talk. Dave doesn't write so well, but likes to talk and is a good speaker. So given an assignment about the Fall of Rome, each student does what they do best. Bill creates an artistic representation of the Fall of Rome, which Jill writes about, and Dave presents to the class orally. The students have to communicate with each other about the content, thus they are teaching each other, and learning from each other through accountable talk. This is just one example, but Web-Quest to bring in technology, class social media pages, competitions, and other techniques will be used to make class not so "boring." I look forward to helping my student break new grounds in their learning. James Randle |