After all the preparation that I have had through the College of Education through field placements and content-rich courses, I still feel that I haven't quite reached the point of being a teacher. Now, I know that none of us technically has because we still have one last semester and then an entire year of internship, but I think that the mentality of being a teacher can come before actual certification. For the last couple years, I have had what I thought was the 'teacher mentality,' absorbing studies and information about teaching methods and lesson plans. I have come to realize, though, that this is not actually what being a teacher is all about. Being a teacher is doing all that, but it also includes knowing your students on a personal level and getting to know how to connect educational material to those particular learners. It means being able to take a step back and see what is working, what isn't working and having the skills to modify curriculum based on real life environments and circumstances. It is not just about making sure that kids pass and move on to the next grade, but it is about making sure they actually learn and grow, even if it is not at the 'normal' rate (whatever that means).
These teaching abilities and mentalities will be rewarding for both the teacher and the student, as both are ever-learning and growing. Being involved also means being able to effectively communicate to the students' next teacher how these students learn best individually. I think a lot of these skills will come with practice and real life situations. This is why it is my goal to really soak up the rest of the semester in field to see how I could manage to grow and blossom as a teacher when I get to be in a class every day next year. I think blooming as a teacher is an on-going process that is achieved by continued education.
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Colleen C.,
ReplyDeleteYou have picked up on something here in your blog that is many veteran teachers have difficulty realizing. What makes a teacher can be broken up into several different aspects. Most commonly, we think of teaching as a set of knowledge and skills. Perhaps as teachers, we know about child development or definitions of literacy and math. And skill wise, we can implement those definitions through our actions - we can plan lessons and set up classroom communities. What few teachers realize, though, is that beyond knowledge and skills, there are mindsets - our beliefs about teaching and learning that affect our every move. And you've really picked up on that mindset part of teaching. You're examining what you believe about teaching - that it's about getting to know your students, that it's about being reflective and learning from your experiences.
I think this might be an interesting way to observe in your field placement one day. One of my former professors had us observe a teacher and record the answers to these questions:
1) What does she know?
2) What is she able to do?
3) What does she believe?
Perhaps you can gain some further insight into teaching and learning by using those 3 questions to analyze what you see in the field. Just a thought.
What a thoughtful entry,
Sarah :)