As promised, I am writing a response to Catherine Wilcoxson's "Top Ten Things New Teachers Should Know." Keep in mind the words and opinions expressed here are based on my current knowledge and experience as an Education undergrad student, and will probably change once I actually enter the Education work force.
1. Don’t worry so much about doing the right thing.
It is important to note that she did not say "Don't worry at all. But you, as a teacher, old and wise as you are, probably already have a good idea what "the right things" are. Just read the Student Handbooks, the school policy, and the TQS, and the rest will come through experience.
2. Relax.
This is pretty much the same as #1, except it deals more with how you express yourself to your students day to day, not just in times of trouble. Get to know your students; let them get to know you. The real you. They can tell when you are being insincere, no matter how old you are. Also, let them know it's okay to feel stressed sometimes.
3. Teaching is hard work.
I'm sure it's not really "much more work than you ever thought
possible," but I do concede that "it is essential that you are organized and use your time efficiently." Teaching, like everything in life worth doing, is a series of progressions, all of which require pre-planning, flexibility and reflection. All of these aspects are explained thoroughly in the original article.
4. Standards cannot be ignored and should not be feared.
It is no secret to me that there are exam scores that must be met in order to generate more money from government funding, but as Ms. Wilcoxson explains, it's more important than that. It lets people, namely the parents that enroll their kids at the school where you teach, that you and all the other teachers know what they are doing. Avoid cheating to get numbers; the results will only be temporary, and the numbers are not what you are there for.
5. Write objectives that focus on student learning, not on today’s task.
"Thinking about the criteria for student success before giving an assignment will help you determine your expectations. Critics will say this leads to grade inflation, but I disagree. Almost all students want to succeed." I don't know what grade inflation is, and I also don't see what is so bad about every student succeeding. Is that not the whole point of them being there? I'm confused, critics. As far as I'm concerned, all humans should aspire to succeed, because as part of the same species, we should all be on the same team. We are all climbing the same mountain, so why should we think it bad if there isn't someone falling behind?
Original article: http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_sc/gen/HSTPR040.PDF
No comments:
Post a Comment