This site is a class blog space for new Career and Technical Specializations and Heathcare Science teachers enrolled in the New Teacher Institute (NTI) at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
How bountiful is my harvest?
Try as we may to provide a positive environment for our students to grow and learn, it doesn't always turn out like we imagine. I am a planner and a perfectionist. I like to know the who, what, where, when, how, and why BEFORE I tackle a project. If you give me a task, I need to know that it has meaning in order for me to give my usual 110 percent. I don't understand asking someone to do something if there is no purpose behind the request. Today's kids are so overstimulated with technology, they have a hard time sitting in the classroom doing an assignment that is not fun or exciting. They may fill in a worksheet (or copy their neighbors) but are they retaining any of the information? As a teacher, how do we fill in the gap? How do we capture their attention? Are we there to entertain or teach? This week I realized that my students are really no different than me. They may not require all of the details I do ,however, if I plan to answer the basics before I ask them to act, I reap a much larger harvest. The biggest gift I can give my students is to show them the value of the lesson before I ask them to learn. If I take that into consideration with every lesson I write, I feel as though my barns will be full...
I completely agree with what you are finding. The feedback I have been given from various reviews on my classroom have been about my excitement. When we are excited, it is contagious and the students tend to feed off of that. The flip-side to that is when I am not 100% prepared for a lesson and am exhausted from the other responsibilities at work, the students feed negatively off of that. They aren't motivated because I'm not motivating. Go figure! I think it is a daily psychology lesson for ourselves as teachers to be excited to teach because then the students will be excited to learn!
ReplyDeleteYou hit the chupacabra on his head (a saying from my country). Behavior breeds behavior and I can confess to that. The students love when you are excited and maybe act a little silly but still keep it professional. You will be surprised how much they pay attention and actually learn what you are teaching them. I think it’s safe to say that a lot of my students know when it’s time to be serious and when it’s okay to joke a little. So to answer your question Courtney, I think you need to love what you do and have fun with it. You don’t have to be serious all the time.
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