I attended an early childhood education conference over the weekend and the opening speaker was Steve Spangler, the Science Guy (http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/ ). His mission in life is to get kids and teachers interested in basic science. He does this through a mix of comedy, fun “experiments” such as creating fountains of Diet Coke (http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109) and actual scientific facts. Underneath his crazy experiments, he has solid early education credentials. In his presentation, he talked about great teachers (yes, geared toward elementary grades but can be applied across the board). He said that great teachers don’t just guide students in the “how to do it” realm, but also inform students why they should do it and why it is important. Great teachers create experiences which could change lives.
Bringing this forward to our area of education, how can we create experiences which affect our students in a positive way or that could possibly change their lives? Are assignments in our courses related to real life experiences? Do you show why your assignments and assessment are important or connect to the real world?
We may never know how we affect our students. Occasionally we hear back from a former student who might say, “because of your class, I decided to pursue a career in …….” Or because you cared enough to guide me through the rough areas of the class, I was able to get my degree.” Or “I use what you taught me in my job.”
I know there are teachers who have affected us over our academic career and maybe some of those people actually inspired us to go into the field of education. Wouldn’t you want to be one of those inspirations? As we rapidly approach the end of our semester, students are getting frantic and even somewhat nasty. Maybe if we show kindness and support, we will be one of those great teachers.
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Phillis - this is such a wonderful post. As a teacher, I am inspired every time I hear Steve Spangler speak. Whether it is the first time or the fiftieth time I hear him, I walk away re-energized with a new perspective on my role as a teacher. After reading your blog post it is such a re-affirmation to hear that I am not the only one who feels this way. I always find it refreshing to hear the content in Steve's message. Anyone can deliver a keynote filled with wow factor but you hit the nail on the head when you zero-ed in on the fact that we never know the impact of what we do on our students lives. Year after year, teachers simply persevere and hope that we are leading our students in the right direction. Thank you for sharing on your blog what all the rest of us were thinking after Steve's keynote.
ReplyDeletePhyllis - I completely agree. I too have seen Steve Spangler in action and have been inspired. Being a great teacher is not about beating the knowledge into our students' heads, it's about creating experiences and teaching them to stop and think for themselves. We want thinkers to come out of our classrooms, not regurgitators. It sounds like you already are a great teacher...
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