Dews and Doughnuts

Sometimes, lifelong lessons are compacted into one sentence. Today in class, we went through the do's and do not's of being an educator. It was mostly an overview of what we learned this semester, but was a great reminder as to what we need to do as teachers to be successful. It's a reminder that if we fail, we must get back up and try something different. A reminder that teachers never stop learning, and our reward is our students and that we wake up every day for them. It's a reminder that we must always stay positive and always be there whenever a student is in need. I want my students to move on and look back and think that time spent in my classroom was not wasted. I want them to think that Mr. Woodin was a teacher to remember and take memories from my class that will last them a lifetime. After today, I was never so sure that I wanted to teach... I just can't wait to actually start teaching.

Motivation

I reread all my blogs, and found a common theme... Motivation. We talked about motivation in class and decided that I would devote an entire blog entry to it. As teachers, it can be quite difficult motivating a great amount of students. Educators need to walk into class with a plan every day.. They need to walk in with a positive attitude and show they are passionate about what they are teaching, only then can students be passionate about learning. I feel like anymore, the only real motivation for kids to perform well in class is the grade. In inner city schools, or schools where motivation is low, we cannot rely on a grade providing the motivation. Our goal should be getting students to want to go to class every day and ask questions. Getting them actively involved and participating in activities within the classroom is hard, but staying persistent and constantly believing in the students will help. In too many classes, teachers teach what needs to be taught, and that is it... The students write it down, take a test, and never remember it again. The teacher isn't learning anything from this, and neither are the students. I've been subject to too many of these classes, and know that I need to be different. If I walk into my class and give my choir some music and tell them to sing, they won't be into it. You need to act like you want to be there and prove that to the students. Working hard pays off in the end, especially when you receive a letter from a student 10 years later saying that what they learned and took away from the class, lead them to where they are present. That is motivation for me to teach.

Building Blocks of Positive Behavior

There are many ways to get students to act positively in and outside of the classroom. Every school and every classroom has different guidelines and ideas they think works best to extract the best behavior of their students. PBIS is a great example I think of a way to keep kids interested in schooling. The only way it can work though is if the faculty and the community are willing to work their hardest and put in long hours. I have preached it time in and time out, but a hard working and motivated teacher is the only answer to a proper education. If done right, I can see this program doing exactly what it says... The only problem I have with this article is the number of teachers leaving areas because of students... I know some teachers are not cut out for inner city or tougher areas, but if you are unsure to begin with, don't get your feet wet. We don't need teachers giving up on children, because then they give up. All this talk about positive behavior and the teachers cannot be models for that? Grinds my gears... We want teachers pushing themselves to the limit, so then, maybe, just maybe, the students will work just as hard.

One-to-One Laptops?

Though it is a great idea, I think a laptop for each and every child in the classroom is dangerous. We would like to think the students are sitting at their desks typing the lesson we are teaching, but the probability that some of them are playing a game of solitaire is high... You can preach all you want about the importance of paying attention even though you have such technologies at the tips of your fingers, but a kid will be a kid. I know I will admit, I'm twenty years old, and in ed psych I'll still catch myself playing a game of hearts or checking my e-mail every once in a while. Imagine putting a computer in front of every child in an elementary school... GOOD LUCK! Now I know we are trying to go green these days, but there is nothing wrong with giving a student a pencil and paper and making them write. Something I've noticed is that children are starting to have worse and worse handwriting skills... Giving them a computer would not change their writing ability, but what about standardized essays? If a teacher cannot read your handwriting, it could be a problem... There is some value in hand written material, and believe it is our best bet in teaching... But once we get a better hold of technology, maybe make that transition.

Bridge to Constructivism

People learn while doing couldn't describe the art of constructivism any better. Even though many teachers have yet to adopt the constructive approach, I believe that the number will increase in the next several years. If we are going by the "we teach how we are taught" theory, we should be pretty darn good teachers. I mean, if you think about it, throughout our lifetime, we have had teachers who are always in the back of your mind, but also teachers we wish we could forget... But if that is that case, would we not learn from their mistakes and do the opposite? Anyway, as teachers we need to be constantly learning and generating new ideas, and that is the only way a constructive approach can work. So a teacher that wishes to take the constructive route, must be careful I think, and must be willing to work hard to make proper lesson plans that fit the subject and will motivate the children... and if something doesn't work, find something else to do... learning from our mistakes is a part of teaching also.