This week, I found myself spending hours reading various blogs on education and teaching. It was fascinating to me. I had no idea that there was so many out there. One can literally find a discussion on virtually any topic imaginable. One blog that I was especially taken by was thejosevilson.com. What an interesting man! He is an middle school math teacher in an urban school (Washington Heights, New York City) and just became a first time father. He is very well spoken and articulate. His posts are fascinating! What I admire most is although I have no doubt he is extremely good at what he does, he continually reflects upon his actions as a teacher and constantly looks for new and improved ways of teaching. This was evident in his post titled On Getting Better At Your Craft. I believe all teachers, no matter how many years of experience, can continually improve and should always look for new ways to become a more effective teacher. How can anyone truly be an expert in teaching when teaching is a field that experiences so many changes on a daily basis. The art of self-examination is critical to master if one wants to be an effective teacher, in my opinion. One of the things I love most about substitute teaching is all of the many teachers I have the pleasure of being exposed to. I love seeing how each teacher sets up his/her classroom. The different approaches to lesson plans and lesson presentation extremely interesting as well. Even the way teachers approach class rules and discipline are vastly different from one teacher to the next. I have learned something from each and every classroom I have been in. I have a whole notebook full of ideas that will be at my disposal when I am lucky enough to have my own class. I believe if one is not careful, teaching can be very isolating. A teacher is basically on her own several hours a day with the students. It is extremely important for teachers to make the effort to connect with on another for collaboration and continually look for avenues of professional development. There is no such thing as having too many tools in ones arsenal to pick and choose from on a daily basis as needed. I vow to myself to examine my performance each day as a teacher and ask myself, "What went well?", "What didn't go so well?", and "What could I have done better?"
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Third Week of Class - 01/24/12
This week, I found myself spending hours reading various blogs on education and teaching. It was fascinating to me. I had no idea that there was so many out there. One can literally find a discussion on virtually any topic imaginable. One blog that I was especially taken by was thejosevilson.com. What an interesting man! He is an middle school math teacher in an urban school (Washington Heights, New York City) and just became a first time father. He is very well spoken and articulate. His posts are fascinating! What I admire most is although I have no doubt he is extremely good at what he does, he continually reflects upon his actions as a teacher and constantly looks for new and improved ways of teaching. This was evident in his post titled On Getting Better At Your Craft. I believe all teachers, no matter how many years of experience, can continually improve and should always look for new ways to become a more effective teacher. How can anyone truly be an expert in teaching when teaching is a field that experiences so many changes on a daily basis. The art of self-examination is critical to master if one wants to be an effective teacher, in my opinion. One of the things I love most about substitute teaching is all of the many teachers I have the pleasure of being exposed to. I love seeing how each teacher sets up his/her classroom. The different approaches to lesson plans and lesson presentation extremely interesting as well. Even the way teachers approach class rules and discipline are vastly different from one teacher to the next. I have learned something from each and every classroom I have been in. I have a whole notebook full of ideas that will be at my disposal when I am lucky enough to have my own class. I believe if one is not careful, teaching can be very isolating. A teacher is basically on her own several hours a day with the students. It is extremely important for teachers to make the effort to connect with on another for collaboration and continually look for avenues of professional development. There is no such thing as having too many tools in ones arsenal to pick and choose from on a daily basis as needed. I vow to myself to examine my performance each day as a teacher and ask myself, "What went well?", "What didn't go so well?", and "What could I have done better?"
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Interesting blog - couldn't agree more with self-reflection being neccessary - I think in teaching and in life. Always wanting to be better - keeps one moving forward but on the other had, I think we have to realize that there are going to be some terrible days (from what I've heard from teacher friends) and that is when it is essential to have a network of teachers to be able to talk to.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I read on Vilson's blog though got me thinking though was in his "A Dozen of One" post where he talks about the difference between his own child and students where he says he doesn't have to worry about where his students' next meal will come from, etc. I find this a bit surprising from a teacher - maybe it will change for me with time but I can't fathom not trying to make sure that kids' basic needs are met. How can you expect kids to be successful if they're not even sure they'll be eating dinner?