January 16, 2012
Teacher Preparation
The best teacher-preparation programs emphasize subject-matter mastery and provide many opportunities for student teachers to spend time in real classrooms under the supervision of an experienced mentor. Just as professionals in medicine, architecture, and law have opportunities to learn through examining case studies, learning best practices, and participating in internships, exemplary teacher-preparation programs allow teacher candidates the time to apply their learning of theory in the context of teaching in a real classroom.
Teacher-Induction Programs
Support for beginning teachers is often uneven and inadequate. Even if well prepared, new teachers often are assigned to the most challenging schools and classes with little supervision and support. Nearly half of all teachers leave the profession in their first five years, so more attention must be paid to providing them with early and adequate support, especially if they are assigned to demanding school environments.
Mentoring and coaching from veteran colleagues is critical to the successful development of a new teacher. Great induction programs create opportunities for novice teachers to learn from best practices and analyze and reflect on their teaching.
January 13, 2012
You have to admit that over the years, school has changed.And not just in the things students learn or how they are taught,it is also how they act towards teachers.Back then a teacher asks you to do something you do it whether you want to or not.Now the students respond with attitude.And i have to give it to the teachers when they keep calm when students do that kind of thing or say things they shouldn’t because i know that is hard to do.But sometimes i know teachers who are way to hard on the students,and don’t get me wrong the students have no right to talk to the teachers the way they do,but the way the teachers act now a days it is like they forgot about when they were a kid.
I was volunteering to help a teacher and he literally was just handing out pink slips for detentions for things that i thought was absurd.One day the class was taking a test and i heard the teacher say that if they had a question to come up and ask him at his desk,1 student did that and got a pink slip for getting out of their seat during a test.I was shocked.
And you know that made me think of how many teachers now a days do things like that just to discipline a child.I know teachers who have gotten fired for that kind of stuff.Now i don’t really have an answer to my question because to me i guess it depends on the situation,i mean it could be the teacher but yet the student should be able to control their actions.
January 11, 2012
Aspiring teachers spend fours year going to college to become a well-trained teacher and then as soon as they do their student teaching, some turn their backs on teaching and want to be social workers instead. I come in contact with many teachers in training who think that their number one calling in life is to dig deep into the lives and homes of their students, ostensibly, so they can better understand them to teach them, but in fact, the purpose has little to do with education.
I responded to one of my teacher prep students in the following manner when she expressed surprise and great concern for all the problems students deal with at their homes:
* You started off your post [it's an online class] with an emotional plea regarding the dire situations in which your students live. Let me remind you that of course we care for the students and their plights at home…but the best way we can help them is not to solve their home problems, but to help them learn in the very best possible way. These students know that education is the solution for many of their problems and make tremendous sacrifices to come to school.
* Also, we have to be realistic too; some students may play “woe is me” to a naive teacher…Does this mean that I am unsympathetic to the plight of many students who find their way in to public schools today? No. What it means is that I am more sympathetic with their most powerful needs and I desire to use my skill and expertise as a teacher to provide a tremendous service that is more valuable than money, food, shelter or clothing. I desire to satisfy a ravenous need that every child born with in this world. It is more urgent than hunger and thirst, more pressing than warmth or shelter. It matches and sometimes eclipses the important need to feel loved.
* I am talking about the need to learn. This is something hardwired into our physiology… and our psychology. We are by nature, learning machines. Therefore, if I am a true teacher, then that is the greatest need that I can help the student to satisfy and if I do my job correctly, I will enlarge and enhance that ravenous need to learn in each student.
January 9, 2012
1. Be On Time
Punctuality is very important in the ‘real world’. If you are late, you will definitely NOT start out on the right foot with your cooperating teacher. Even worse, if you arrive after a class has begun which you are supposed to be teaching, you are placing that teacher and yourself in an awkward situation.
2. Dress Appropriately
As a teacher, you are a professional and you are supposed to dress accordingly. There is nothing wrong with over dressing during your student teaching assignments. The clothes do help lend you an air of authority, especially if you look awfully young. Further, your dress lets the coordinating teacher know of your professionalism and dedication to your assignment.
3. Be Flexible
Remember that the coordinating teacher has pressures placed upon them just as you have your own pressures to deal with. If you normally teach only 3 classes and the coordinating teacher asks that you take on extra classes one day because he has an important meeting to attend, look at this as your chance to get even further experience while impressing your dedication to your coordinating teacher.
4. Follow the School Rules
This might seem obvious to some but it is important that you do not break school rules. For example, if it is against the rules to chew gum in class, then do not chew it yourself. If the campus is ’smoke-free’, do not light up during your lunch period. This is definitely not professional and would be a mark against you when it comes time for your coordinating teacher and school to report on your abilities and actions.
5. Plan Ahead
If you know you will need copies for a lesson, do not wait until the morning of the lesson to get them completed. Many schools have procedures that MUST be followed for copying to occur. If you fail to follow these procedures you will be stuck without copies and will probably look unprofessional at the same time.
6. Befriend the Office Staff
This is especially important if you believe that you will be staying in the area and possibly trying for a job at the school where you are teaching. These people’s opinions of you will have an impact on whether or not you are hired. They can also make your time during student teaching much easier to handle. Don’t underestimate their worth.
7. Maintain Confidentiality
Remember that if you are taking notes about students or classroom experiences to turn in for grades, you should either not use their names or change them to protect their identities. You never know who you are teaching or what their relationship might be to your instructors and coordinators.
8. Don’t Gossip
It might be tempting to hang out in the teacher lounge and indulge in gossip about fellow teachers. However, as a student teacher this would be a very risky choice. You might say something you could regret later. You might find out information that is untrue and clouds your judgement. You might even offend someone without realizing it. Remember, these are teachers you could be working with again some day in the future.
January 6, 2012
The role of teachers does not stop in the classroom as educators and architects of a society, but they also serve as community activists.
Hence, they are expected to promote social change in schools and in communities in which they serve. In this formulation, I would like to look at the roles of teachers in the fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty.
1. Health (Hiv/Aids)
The HIV scourge has long been identified as a major economic and social threat. Similarly, it should be common knowledge that only through effective education programs can both prevention and support issues be addressed to mitigate the impact of the virus. Therefore, the role of teachers in addressing Hiv/Aids is significance when it comes to the promotion of social change in schools and in communities at large.
Teachers work directly with children and community members affected with HIV/AIDS, thus they are expected to promote awareness about the virus, and for example, how it can be prevented from spreading. As behavioral change agents, I strongly believe that teachers are expected to understand the subject of HIV/AIDS to effectively address difficult and sensitive matters such as condom use, abstinence and sexuality, with clarity and without fear.
2. Poverty
Poverty affects school children and their academic progress. Equally, it affects community members, specifically families with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC’s). It is public knowledge that some children go to school on empty stomachs, barefoot and without proper uniforms because they are poor.
To make matters worse, some children cannot afford to contribute to the School Development Fund (SDF). Poverty in our country is real, a phenomenon exacerbated by unemployment standing at more than 51%. Effective teaching and learning cannot take place in the presence of abjectpoverty. Poverty denies human beings the right to satisfaction of their physiological and basic needs, such as proper shelters, food and clothing. If human being’s needs are not met or satisfied, it is obvious that social change will not occur.
January 5, 2012
Unfortunately, the “powers that be” rarely hand out funds for creating a classroom library, or at least one of any size. So how do you get the books you need. I was in this situation as I taught in a small rural school system. But by the time I retired, I had over 3000 children’s books. Here are some suggestions for starting or growing your own classroom library.
* Buy them yourself. I know, teachers shouldn’t have to buy their own supplies. But, realistically, we all know we do. Buying books is certainly money well spent. The thing to do is find the best buy.
* Use paperback bookclubs with your students. They give bonus points for each dollar spent by your students. The points can be used to get books for your library.
* Talk to your librarian or whomever runs the school bookfair. See if you can leave a list of books that parents can voluntarily purchase as a donation to your classroom. This could be a school-wide project.
* Convince the parent organization in your school to raise money for classroom libraries.
* Ask relatives and friends with older children if they have books around their houses that their children have outgrown.
* Ask your public library about a loaner program. In my area, the local public libraries allow teachers to check out books for an extended period of time to use in their classrooms. The downside to this is that the teacher is responsible for any lost or damaged books.
January 2, 2012
What is the true definition of teacher ? Is he simply a person whose occupation is teaching or he who guides, inspires the life of a pupil? Both the question and answer are difficult. But India has her own answer and from time immemorial, Hindu civilization has been considering teacher as the true representative of the Almighty. The ancient Vedic Sloka states with conviction – Guru Devo Maheshwaraha, Guru Brahma Gurur Vishnu, Tasmai Sree Gurave Namaha, Guru Saakshat Para Brahma,” This means that Guru (teacher) is in truth the representative of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and is responsible for creating, sustaining knowledge and destroying the saga of ignorance. What should be the ideal form a teacher then? If you want to find a role model or an ideal teacher whose moral excellence, sagacity motivates students for more than millenniums; you have to concentrate on Great Chanakya.
Acharya Chanakya was most instrumental in usurping the Nanda dynasty and establishing the widely acclaimed Maurya Empire. Besides he did form “ArtahShastra” – a treatise depicting the ideal form of welfare economics, statecraft, political science, sociology and the King above all. The efficacy and fame of the treatise is not limited within the sphere of India only but has motivated the West to a large extent too. all these indicate that the role of a teacher doesn’t end within the classroom but in building up a humane, vigorous nation and society at large.But this is not possible for everyone to achieve.
These days any individual can be a teacher provided that he/she satisfied the necessary conditions as per the government rules. But this can’t sole the problem. The significance of a teacher in the role of an architect of the nation demands that only the best and most sagacious, intelligent, proficient members of the society should be enabled to qualify for this noble vocation.
December 29, 2011
I have not always wanted to be a teacher. I knew that I wanted to be able to help people and make a difference, and this was the factor that made me originally go into the nursing field. I soon realized that this was not making me completely happy, and quickly found what would make me happy, becoming a teacher. There are so many reasons that I chose this as a profession. It is hard to think of just one particular reason I want to be a teacher there are so many it would be impossible to narrow it down. Being a teacher is very rewarding profession because you are constantly learning something new. Not only do you learn from technological advancements and co-workers but from the students as well. The main reasons that made me pick this profession would have to be the multiple ways it is rewarding and it gives me the opportunity to make areal difference in someone’s life.
When you become a teacher you are not only responsible for educating your students, it comes with more responsibility then that. You are now a role model for these students and their community. Students are with teachers eight hours of their day and sometimes consider their teachers as second parents. Being held to this standard you have now become a role model.
Being a good role model means to respect, love, instruct and guide students as they grow older. As a teacher I want to teach my students more than just the educational side of growing up. I want to teach them how to establish good relationships, guide their behavior, and how to communicate effectively because these are all lessons that are necessary to becoming a well rounded person.Schools and teacher are vital to our communities.
December 28, 2011
Parents, obviously, can teach and bring up the children well and be very important teachers in children’s lives. They show their children the first lessons such as how to crawl, stand and speak. Parents; however, are not always the best teachers.
Firstly, parents, undoubtedly, give birth and take care of children for the whole time. Therefore, parents are the ones who understand children most. The closer parents and children are, the easier parents can educate their children. They know children’s strong points and weak points. From this, they can orient the suitable way to teach their children. But in reality, they seem not to be the best teachers. There are some parents actually don’t understand their children much because the have a bit time to be close to children. For example, it takes them to be on business trip and do not care anything about their children.
In addition, parents sometimes do not pay attention to their children’s desire. Parents seem to separate their children from their mind. For instance, if parents love art, they may try to force the children to love art, too. But what if their children’s true interest is art? Thus, parents and children have some difficulties in solving problems. It’s difficult for parents to become the best teachers.
December 27, 2011
1) Teachers are usually in the best position to identify kids who later turn out to be violent. I have had numerous teachers tell me ” I knew Johnny was aggressive since he started preschool at the age of three.” As you are probably aware, good teachers often have a second sense about their students. These kids are usually the ones slapping other children and teachers and throwing temper tantrums in the classroom at an early age. You might even be astonished by the changes in a child’s behavior: cold calculating and aggressive behavior towards others one day and then the next day, they are sweet as can be. It can be exasperating. What can you do?
2) Request that your school have in-service programs for teachers specifically for the purpose of identifying the symptoms of at-risk children. Kids may act in ways that we don’t expect. For example, many times boys who are depressed will act aggressively by yelling, bullying etc. If you see a child with signs of aggressiveness or one that holds everything in and then blows, talk to the parents or school staff about referring the child to the school psychologist or for a psychiatric evaluation.
3) Teach critical thinking skills: they can prevent violence. There has been research showing that youthful impulsiveness may be linked to younger teenagers’ frenetic brain activity in the amygdala, which is primarily linked with emotions and instinctual reactions. Older teens and adults show more activity in the frontal lobe–the brain tissue involve in planning, insight and organization. Teachers can encourage young teen-agers (and younger) to develop the frontal lobe by teaching them to think more rationally (Yergelun-Todd, 1998). This may translate into integrating more critical thinking skills into school curriculums to teach kids more logical ways to solve problems. Paradoxically, school curricula aimed at helping teens get in touch with their emotions may actually make things worse–given the emotional makeup of many troubled teens–while programs that substitute rational thought for emotion may help them deal with their problems constructively. Star Trek’s “Mr. Spock” turns out to be right: cool logic is the enemy of hotheaded violence.
4) Set a good example. Use your clout as a teacher to call into question administrative rules in your school that might be leading to misbehavior. These regulations may start out with good intentions, but often create other problems. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is one good example. Many kids with behavioral problems are in special education classes. As you know, because of this, there are restrictions on how many days they can be expelled from school even for very serious and violent acts. Meanwhile, the kid in regular education is expelled for misbehavior of a less serious nature. Zero Tolerance works the same way: Kids who are no threat are often expelled from school for bringing a butter knife or model rocketship–getting the same consequences as the kid found with a gun. What is this teaching children about adults’ abilities to think critically? Administrators who cannot distinguish between right and wrong teach children that all acts of misbehavior are identical. This sends the message that you might as well commit a serious crime because you’ll get the same punishment. Vocalize these concerns to school administrators or even to your legislators. On a smaller scale, provide students in your classroom with consequences that are comenserate with the misbehavior displayed. Allow your students to see you performing critical thinking in action.
5) If your school does not already have a violence prevention program, talk with administrators about putting one in place. Education is the key in helping students to identify other potentially dangerous students. Several recent school tragedies have been averted by other students telling school officials that someone has a weapon. Get to know your students and establish a trust with them. You might just be the one they turn to if they or their friend is thinking of violence.
