Knowing who you are also allows you to function as a learning leader without forcing your beliefs or values on students. How will you personally address this concept as a teacher?
A huge part of who I am coincides with my religious and spiritual beliefs. I love Jesus. He is every bit a part of me as I am Lisa Gurley with brown hair and green eyes. I can't separate that from my self. A fear that some people have is that teachers try and push their beliefs, particularly spiritual or political beliefs, upon the students. I don't know of anyone who has ever agreed whole heatedly to a subject when they are pushed. It truly irritates me when Christians in particular try pushing their views upon other people. If someone asks me, I'll be more than happy to share my Jesus with them. But I hope that just in the way I live my life will show what my beliefs are and where my heart lies.
Knowing this about myself, I believe that my core values will make me an exceptional teacher. When I tell someone that I care about them and their success in life, I have no hidden agenda. I mean what I say. Teachers who truly care about and love their students are the teachers who stand out, in my opinion. A teacher can spout off all the proper things to teach and even apply the content to real life situations, but if they never truly know their students and care about their success, the students will recognize this and feel as though they are a number, not a person.
Maybe I believe this because this is how I felt about some of my teachers. The teachers who knew my name, my interests and what was going on in my life were the teachers that I learned the most from. A teacher could know the material in and out, but if they didn't seem to care about me, my interest and respect for them would wain and I wouldn't achieve as well as I could.
I see this with my children. I have a daughter who can be a ton of fun, but she is a ball of energy. She is opinionated and out going, which intimidates some teachers. Last year, she was constantly butting heads with her teacher. Maybe this was just a clash of personalities, but the thing I noticed the most was the teacher was not willing to work with my daughter's personality and try things a little differently with her. The teacher just wanted her to cooperate, be quiet and conform, like many of the other students. This year, her teacher has come up with some very creative ideas to help engage my daughter in the lessons and learning. She has thrown some enormous temper tantrums, but when she saw that he truly cared about her, she has grown more compliant, has learned tons, and loves loves loves to be at school.
As far as my personality goes, I think it will definitely be a benefit to me. Not everyone is suited to teach. I would be terrible in law enforcement, where my husband excels. He can teach adults, but his patience would continuously be tested if he was an elementary school teacher. I love art and being creative, and I think this will help in my presentation of material that could otherwise be boring to some students.
And the bottom line is that I love children. They are truly the foundation of society and the future. How they learn and how they are treated affects their entire lives. I love watching them interact and learn.
I look forward to becoming a teacher that stands out and continually tries to learn new ways to reach out to the young generations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I agree wit you, teachers who truley care about and love their students are the those who stand out. They really have an opportunity to change someones life. Who do love your students you want them to conform, you'll want them to be themselves. Although, sometimes there is less stress when the kids just chose to conform. :-) Less stress, but also less fun. I think you will become a teacher that stands out!
Teachers are responsible for students’ learning.Teachers should engage students in different tasks. A wonderful website furnishes surplus ideas for teachers to become more exceptional.
Post a Comment