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Friday, September 8, 2017
Sept. 13...Grant and Murray and What it Means to be a Teacher
How does the way Grant and Murray talk about teaching in this week's reading compare to how you have thought about the job? How does what they say relate to the idea of teaching as a profession?
These two chapters were had me thinking of a lot of what I have been taught both in my undergraduate and graduate classes. One of the major ideas that was referenced in chapter 3 was the concept of "knowing your students". I can't tell you how many times I've heard my professors talk about this and how vital it is for your classroom community. It's extremely difficult for any learning to happen if I, the teacher, am presenting the information in one single way. There are going to be several different learning styles within my classroom each year and getting to know which students respond to which style is going to be critical if there is going to be any growth and progress throughout my time with them. Reading that phrase, knowing your students, resinates with me more and more each time I read it. Beyond in the classroom, what good is it to just know your students on the surface level? Forming bonds with members of the family close to the children builds a strong foundation for communication between home and school. Maybe Johnny's parents are getting divorced which has contributed to his abnormal, disruptive behavior. Perhaps Johnny didn't tell you any of this and so you asked his mom or dad about anything possibly causing this behavior. Without communicating home and trying to figure out what the problem was, the problem would have continued, only making my job more difficult to get Johnny to learn and socialize.
Growing up, I don't ever recall much differentiation between my classmates and myself with what kind of work we were doing. We were all given the same worksheets to complete and to work on them individually at our desks. I never really thought anything of it until I came to declare my major to education. The thought hadn't crossed my mind that a classroom could look anything but rows of desks and completing worksheets through memorization. Throughout my time in college I have learned and understood how different education can look in an elementary classroom, and its remarkable. We, as humans, learn by doing. So why for all this time have we just been reading about it in a textbook and regurgitated that information on a test? My professors have preached about how we can assess students through various means, informally and formally; tests are not the only way. There are projects, papers, field trips, etc. It has been quite a pleasant surprise to see that they are practicing what they preach. This semester I only have one test in all of my classes. This is proving that we can assess knowledge in many different ways, and we need to utilize our strengths in that.
When thinking about my future classroom, I have always thought about the relationships I will build with my students and the relationships I will have with my co-workers, but I never really thought about how society would affect my teaching. Maybe I did a little, but in an unconscious way. Just like we talked about last class and Grant and Murry mentioned in chapter 3, there is no such thing as a neutral classroom. Your culture and experience will impact your teaching and how you handle situations, just as those things impact how students learn. I think it is interesting that we have heard so many times that we need to consider our student’s personal lives when setting expectations and determining how to present the content, but I have never actually thought about how these things will affect my teaching. We even talked about on the first day of class what we thought the point of public education was, and a common response was how to make students good citizens. What we believe is a ‘good citizen’ is subjectable. We determine what we believe is acceptable for one person to say to another or what behaviors are accepted. These things can vary from culture to culture or even family to family. I think this is what makes teaching even more difficult. One of the chapters stated that about two-thirds of parents believe that providing students with both personal and social development should be shared equally between home and school. This surprised me because how do we remain ‘neutral’ without putting our values and morals on students while still guiding them through personal and social development?
We as teachers are taught that we need to know our students, show them love, be firm with them, teach them that they can do anything, but the most important thing I read about in the reading that i can relate to is modeling to your students. In the article it talks about a teacher models by showing the student she cares for their ideas. "What this teacher models is caring for ideas. She is saying to the students: Your ideas and what you are saying about Bigger Thomas matters to me, I am here to learn, too." (pg. 44). While reading this, I truly related. You have to show your children that you care about what they are thinking, and if you do that, the students will listen to you more. They will respect you more when you show how much you care for them. Modeling is something EVERY teacher needs to do. A lot of students come from homes where the parents are not exactly there all the time. This could be from working a lot, or just not wanting to be involved in their lives. No matter the reason, it is our jobs to help shape our students into the best version of themselves. So we need to model love for them, patience, tough-love, manners, how you treat people, and so much more. It is a hard job to do every day, but it is absolutely worth it when you can teach them to be the best version of themself. It is only hard when they leave school and go to a home where these concepts are not enforced, and everything you tried modeling for them goes out the window. I remember calling my dad crying one day because it was a tough realization with one student I worked with. He was a student who had some behavioral issues, and I worked with him ALL day one day and he had come so far in just a little bit of time. When I went into class the next day, I was excited to see what he had been doing. Sadly he was right back to where he had been. His family at home was terrible. His dad was barely around, his mom worked two jobs, and she only had time for my student's brother. I called my dad crying after I left because it is so hard when you try and teach these kids to be the best version of themselves, and they make such progress, but it is all gone because they dont have someone at home to care and enforce these morals. It is worth it in the end, no matter how hard it is because they need us, and they need someone to show them all these things. Modeling is so important for students, and that will be one thing I do when I have my own class.
Since I began to think seriously about being a teacher I’ve always said that I have a professional obligation to teach the curriculum, but I feel a personal obligation to teach more than just the curriculum. Grant and Murray talk about modeling as being one of the essential acts of teaching, but I think that modeling goes far beyond the standards; teachers should be modeling kindness, empathy, and thoughtfulness – which can be a launching pad for engaging and motivating students as you build those relationships over time. Two of the questions that Grant and Murray asked really struck me: “What is my responsibility for shaping the ethos of the school?” and “Am I primarily a transmitter or transformer of my society’s values?” Both of those questions really made me think about the larger implications of the teaching profession. I think it is so easy to get caught up in the four walls of your classroom and forget that your classroom exists inside of a larger school community (and that school exists in an even larger community). We discussed last class that is virtually impossible to not indoctrinate (impose upon) students and Grant and Murray reinforced this idea when they talked about how no classroom is neutral. No man/woman/boy/girl/classroom is an island and I believe that we have a responsibility to create an environment that nurtures children in such a way that they go out into the world and yield a positive influence. While the idea of “positive influence” is broad and subjective, I think that it comes down to doing what you think is right as both the professional and a human being and finding the appropriate balance between the two.
In both of the Grant and Murray chapters, the authors discuss many aspects of teaching including knowing our students, creating engaging and motivating environments, modeling, evaluating student work, and reflecting on our practice. Some of the topics discussed have to do with pedagogical methods for instruction that can be taught while others discuss aspects of teaching that deal with things that can’t explicitly be taught (ex. opinions on teaching beyond the curriculum). As I have gone through my programs at VCU, I have internally battled with what it practically looks like to be a teacher that teaches beyond the curriculum. Of course I believe teaching content is important and one of the biggest responsibilities I will have, but I desire more. I wouldn’t feel satisfied or fulfilled if I stopped there. I believe that my responsibility as a teacher of young children includes the responsibility to teach kindness, respect, confidence, and so on. In chapter 3, the authors discuss how teachers implicitly or subconsciously model values in the way they call on students (ex. more boys than girls) or ignore slander in hallways (showing that they don’t care about the derogatory comment that was made). Because I have such a strong desire for every student of mine to feel safe, valued, and cared for in my classroom, which was also discussed in the reading, I absolutely feel the need to teach more than just academic curriculum.
Many of the aspects of teaching that Grant and Murray highlighted are things that are very familiar to me for various reasons, such as my own thoughts on teaching and classes which I have taken throughout the VCU program. For example, the concept of knowing your students and modeling are two very important topics which have been covered in length in multiple classes. One of the things that most drew me to pursue a career in teaching is its consistent aspect of human connections, whether that is with students, parents, or colleagues. A quote that stuck out to me while reading was, “Our “curriculum is not a preset plan imposed from above but a mutual creation of lively minds and feeling hearts.” This was in the section about modeling, though, I think it also exhibits a great deal of knowing your student(s) to be able to teach like this. While we are modeling in hopes of teaching our students to be open-minded, lifelong learners, we must practice this as well starting in our own classrooms. In order to promote lifelong learning it is essential for teachers to know their students on a level in which a student feels comfortable enough to stray from the set curriculum and pose questions. The modeling section may sound a bit lofty, but, I connected really well to it, especially, “the best teachers inspire us because we are falling in love with what we want to become; we are awakening our own latent capacities.” When I read that I couldn’t help but think of all the teachers and professors that touched my life and heart in some way and made an impact on me. For instance, I clearly remember many times in high school when I would be unmotivated to complete reading or an assignment because frankly I wasn’t interested in the content. Then, I would often think about my teacher, and what he/she would think if I didn’t complete my work, and that would motivate me enough to do so. But, it was those teachers who exhibited many qualities that Grant and Murray speak of that had that impact on me. In the section on reflecting when the various critiques of teachers were being presented I was informed once again that this profession, and I as a teacher will always be getting critiqued. Someone will always think another other way of doing something is the right way, but one cannot dwell on the neverending critiques to be successful in this career. Instead, I think it’s important to view it as another reminder that as a professional we are also the learners, and must continue to evolve in our knowledge and practice. Overall, I think the excerpts are screaming one thing: teaching needs to be student-centered, and teachers need to have their students best interest at heart.
Many of the aspects of teaching that Grand and Murray point out align with what I have learned thus far in undergraduate and graduate courses. It is reiterated that in order to make lessons engaging and relatable to students we must appeal to students' individual interests. Almost every class that I have taken up until now has stressed the importance of getting to know your students. Showing the students that you care about what they're interested in and how they're feeling in class will make them so much more comfortable, therefore more ready to learn. Chapter 3 also talks about the importance of modeling for the students. I found this part of the chapter particularly important given a hypothetical situation that was posed to the class last week. It is so important that teachers remember that they are not only teaching the academic material that the students need to know, but they are modeling how to care, listen to, and respond to others. This "hidden curriculum" is arguably more important than what the teachers are instructed to teach.
It's sad to hear that some people view teachers as "babysitters". In a sense they do have to watch a classroom full of children all day, but there's more to it than just "watching". While reading Grant and Murray’s Teaching in America, I found myself agreeing with the text. They talk about teaching as if it includes many different professions. Not only do teachers teach, but also strategize effective ways to motivate and engage students similar to how management teams work with their employees. Teachers observe students and allow them to ask questions similar to the job of a scientist. Teachers provide informative feedback and receive feedback from students. Teachers are inventors, always finding different ways to challenge and inspire students. They also make an effort to know their students inside and out. They are detectives looking for clues that lead them to discover if a student understands or struggles with a concept. Teachers guide students through topics with techniques like modeling and coaching. Teachers reflect upon lesson plans and work as a team with students to learn together. They create a caring community in the classroom, which provides a sense of security. Teachers are judges and evaluators when assessing students’ knowledge.
While reading the two chapters, Grant and Murray discuss a couple of character traits that teachers should have. In chapter 3, the authors suggest that if you want to be someone special in your students’ lives, you must make way to know your students. Sure, it is our main job as teachers to educate students in different subjects based on the school curriculum, but we should also make and effort to listen to our students. This does not mean to have a one-on-one talk about life with each student, but to focus on what each student says during class discussions and/or carefully read what they write in essays or journals. Giving them genuine feedback can also help the bond grow stronger. “They long for more teachers like him, teachers who honestly judge them on this day’s work, and provide carefully orchestrated feedback about how they can do better” (46). When I was eating lunch with my third graders last year, I decided to sit next to a student who did not talk as much as the other kids. I assumed that he was a shy student. I asked him simple questions you would ask a regular child (ex. what’s your favorite food/color/thing to do?). After we finished our little conversation about food, I asked him if he had any siblings. He replied under his breath saying, “my older brother is in jail”. Trying to act like I was not shocked, I thanked him for sharing something personal to me and asked him if he had more siblings. During the rest of the lunch period, he talked about the things him and his little sister would do after school. Ever since that day, I noticed that we definitely grew a bond. He would always give me hugs, talk about what he did over the weekend, and sit next to me on the rug. Making the effort to know your students personally can not only affect their performance in school, but can also give them another person they trust in their lives. Another thing I learned from the chapters is that when motivating your students, tough criticism is necessary. This does not mean that teachers should be mean and strict or bubbly and cheery, but be good coaches and not give up on them.
Honestly, the way the authors talk about teaching speaks to the much more complicated and involved roles that teachers play than I think the general public really gives them credit for. For that matter, while I myself had some deep, meaningful goals when I decided to become a teacher (who doesn’t?) I didn’t realize just exactly what the extent was of the responsibility I was being charged with. It took not even the entirety my initial semester in this program to completely see and identify with what Grant and Murray are talking about. I wanted to be an advocate for my students, and still do, but now I feel like I’m better prepared to undertake such a task. For example, they talk at length about knowing your students. On the surface I think we shrug our shoulders and believe that’s a given. Of course establishing relationships with them would be a good thing, but I doubt that many of us knew just how important that aspect of teaching would be. Not only does it play to establishing a sense of community, but also provokes engagement and motivation. I can better teach my students if I know them, and I can better advocate for them too by knowing what they need through this relationship. It’s not enough to simply master your content area in order to teach it to others (an observation I would like many undergraduate programs/professors to consider). As educators, our roles are far more complex than a simple transfer of information. My middle school practicum last semester was particularly eye opening in that regard. The experience of it made much of the reading resonate. I walked into a classroom where not only was I not a master of the content (it was an English class, I’m social studies), but I had no familiarity with the school, its administration, the school’s goals academic or otherwise, nor my mentor teacher’s personal goals. For much of the initial foray into this experience, I had to rely on the relationships I was building piece by piece. I constructed their service-learning project this way: by asking them what they thought was important to better their school, and how they’d like to get involved with their community. As a result, I got engagement and participation that I could scarcely have hoped for. I’m not naïve. I know it wont always be that easy, nor will I always achieve the same results, but to see that message put into action, “know your students, build relationships with them” makes me optimistic in the grand scheme of things.
The views shared in the Grant and Murray readings align with those that I’ve formed throughout the courses I’ve taken here at VCU. One view that greatly stood out was the first of the three questions every teacher must answer; “What balance do I strike between expertise and nurturance?” As the theme of the reading implies, I feel as though you can only truly begin to teach and reach your students after you have established a trusting, loving relationship and classroom community. Especially considering that some students may only receive emotional support via what you’re providing in the classroom. Because of this fact, I find it even more important to be that caring role in the classroom and to provide students with a model of what it means to be an educated, caring individual. The time spent developing community is crucial when it comes to the manner in which your students could accept your advice, care, and instruction. I realize not everyone may feel as passionate about this topic as I and that not everyone displays their level of care in the same way. The book stated, “every teacher… must work out a comfortable balance between presenting herself as expert or as someone who cares and nurtures.” It’s important that everyone find their own perfect balance of what it means to be someone who shows a caring, nurturing side to their students.
I found that the views mentioned in both of the chapter readings align with how I think of teaching as a profession. It was great to see it described as something more than the classic "glorified babysitting". If anything, teaching is multifaceted in nature and more people should understand that. Chapter three explained the personal implications of teaching. Not only is the teacher responsible as the expert in the multiple subject areas, but is responsible for making their students productive citizens in society and have an obligation to create a safe community in their classroom. I strongly agreed with the idea of reflection in the third chapter. I think all professions are reflective in nature, mostly stemming from the idea that we as people are always on the road to better ourselves. The difference with teaching is that not only do we want to better ourselves in our practice, but we want to better our students as well. And not only do we want this, but the parents want it too. We have an army of little humans to mold into decent people and a horde of angry parents who want to make sure you get it done. This just makes it so much more critical to have a nurturing and loving classroom community. I think teaching is a tough job that not many give credit for. Teachers wear multiple hats and are responsible for far much more than most career paths ask of their members. I found both chapters to have similar views as to how I see teaching myself and teaching as a profession.
My computer hates me... I am going to try typing this for the third time now.
I think that this chapter really lined up with my view of the profession. It is not an easy job to do. It is something that is really complicated to do. You are instilling knowledge, values and common curtesousy in the next generation and that is not something to be taken lightly. It is also something that is not just an 8-3:30 job. You have to do teach from 8-3:30 then you go home and plan for 2 or 3 hours to get yourself together for the next day. It is a lot of work that teachers are not given credit nor are they compensated for. I saw a video on facebook called If Teachers were Treated like NFL Stars and it shined a light on something that many often overlook. There is a reason why 50% of new teachers change professions within 5 years of starting. I think that our program does a better job of giving us a more prepared foundation but still that can only get us so far. So how do we fix this and keep our teachers? -Farrell Bishop
One of the first things in the reading that really stood out for me was the comparison that Grant and Murray made between school teachers and university professors and how both are doing essentially the same job when teaching. However, I feel, and Grant and Murray seem to agree, that a divide has grown between the two, mostly due to how the institutions of schools and universities have developed. To me, it seems that university professors do not share the same duty of really getting to know their students or needing to differentiate their instruction based on an individual student's needs the same way school teachers do. There seems to be a sort of unspoken expectation that once a student moves from high school to university, that all of their individual needs become their own to manage and that the educational supports that they relied upon previously are now no longer there. Gone are IEPs and differentiated instruction. If this is the case, how do we, as educators, prepare these students for the transition to university? If one of our goals is to help prepare students for the next step in their educational journey, what can we do in our classrooms to both help them succeed with the curriculum we are teaching them while simultaneously getting them ready to fend for themselves when they get to university?
Grant and Murray touched on the various aspects of teaching, which include but are not limited to knowing the students, being engaging, and modeling appropriately. It demonstrates how teachers have countless roles in and outside of the classroom. As a future school counselor, I appreciated how Jessica Siegel gave her students the journal topic of 'Who Am I? Describe Yourself.' It not only gives them the opportunity to be vulnerable, but it shows how Siegel is willing to meet the students where they are. Being able to understand and empathize with the students, in my opinion, allows for greater opportunities in making connections and building rapport. While some of her colleagues felt it was inviting disappointment and creating excuses for poor performance, I thought it was admirable how she wanted to get to know her students on a more personal level. Knowing them on a deeper level creates that caring relationship Grant and Murray talked about in chapter 4. Noddings argues that not all children are blessed with parents who give them emotional support or provide models of what it means to be educated. Therefore, the caring role of teachers is critical to their development. I also resonated with how Noddings said "there is no method... that will allow teachers to meet 150-200 new students every year and establish the atmosphere of caring that children deserve." The recommended ratio of school counselor to students is 1:250. Yet, my current practicum placement ratio is 1:560. School counselors also face challenges of creating meaningful one on one bonds with students. It's impossible to build rapport with all 560 students during the year, but it's imperative to try. -Hannah C.
The Grant and Murray chapters this week presented a familiar theme that has been discussed in many of my education courses here at VCU; teaching is not a static skill which may be acquired and simply repeated. The profession of teaching is a layered endeavor which requires constant maintenance. This is a concept with which I wholeheartedly agree. In chapter 3, the five processes discussed (knowing your students, engaging/motivating, modeling, judging/evaluating, and reflecting/renewal) effectively summarized my classroom management and teaching methods courses. Chapter 4 spoke to the one question I believe most of us struggle to identify and articulate: What kind of teacher am I going to be? Whether we have come to an answer or not, our beliefs will be put to the test in our first year teaching. Hopefully, the kind of teacher we are in year one is not the same teacher we are in year five nor year 20. Our professionalism as teachers is defined by our ability to develop, implement, and critique our skill sets through a continuous cycle self evaluation and adaptation.
Grant and Murray discussed a lot of topics that many of my VCU professors have discussed in class. I really liked that they talked about being reflective in our practice. In order for us to get better, especially as upcoming new teachers, we have to consider what goes well and what doesn’t go well in our lessons. I’ve definitely thought about how to be reflective in my practice, even if it’s difficult to think about. I also liked their three questions teachers need to answer. It really helps me think about what my role is as a teacher. I’ve assumed that my role would be clear-cut once I got into the classroom, but after reading these questions in the text, I realize it’s not that simple. I think why teaching isn’t taken as seriously as a profession is because we don’t explicitly answer these questions as teachers. Since the role of teacher varies from person to person, others consider teaching as a quasi-profession. While I don’t agree with that sentiment, I do think we should be more up front with our answers to these questions. We shouldn’t be afraid to discuss these answers and learn how our fellow teachers feel. When we open up this discussion, I think it helps our profession move forward.
In these chapters, Grant and Murray lay the foundation for the essential acts of teaching by saying, “These essential acts are knowing their students, engaging them in learning, acting as models of a good life, assessing students’ moral and intellectual growth, and reflecting on the arts of teaching that enable growth,” (p.32). Since I have been a student at VCU, every professor has stated that we need to know our students. Finding out their interests and incorporating them into learning is crucial for their self motivation. This concept directly connects to their discussion on engaging and motivating students. They refer to this as an art involving, “questioning, appreciating, inventing, providing experiences, and guiding-occasionally goading,” (p.38). I honestly never thought the teachers I had after elementary school were all that interested in getting us excited to learn, let alone caring about our interests. I think there is a shift in the attitudes teachers have once they begin teaching in middle school and beyond. Why is that? Perhaps they feel that they need to become more strict and prepare students for their adult lives. However, isn’t that robbing them of their childhoods? These questions relate to my idea of teaching as a profession. A lot of the time, some teachers have the opinion that their job is to teach and have students excel in tests. However, I believe an additional responsibility in this profession is to learn students’ interests, get to know them, and guide them towards becoming better people. Some people view this as going above and beyond in the teaching profession, but I feel that it is something everyone should be doing without even thinking about it.
Chapter 3 had a lot of information that aligns with what I have learned throughout my time at VCU about what being a teacher is. The chapter talked a lot about getting to know your students, and I feel as though my program has drilled that into my skull. In undergraduate and graduate classes, almost every professor has talked about the importance of getting to know your students. And I agree- it is a very important part of the job! You have to get to know them in order to figure out what motivates them, and that is important because you want them to succeed. This chapter also talks about asking "good questions" which I feel like goes back to everything I've learned thus far about being a reflective practitioner. You want to be able to ask your students "good questions" and you want to teach them how to make their own. That information will be vital about what your next steps will be. Are your students ready to move on, or no? I really enjoyed that part of the chapter. I feel as though this chapter had a lot of key points about what to do, and what not to do.
Based on the Chapter 3, although “teachers” and “professors” are engaged in totally different professions, they still perform some essential acts in common. According to Grant and Murray, “these essential acts are knowing their students, engaging them in learning, acting as models of a good life, assessing students’ moral and intellectual growth, and reflecting on the arts of teaching that enable that growth” (p.32). When I was in high school, I thought that the higher the education level you obtained, the better a teacher you would become. Because teaching, for me, merely meant telling students what a teacher knew and learned before. But when I entered collage, I found that I cannot clearly understand what some teachers/professors said at class, even though these teachers/professors had obtained doctor degrees (e.g. no key points, no coherence, or no clarity towards demanding problems). As Grant and Murray point out, a good teacher is not equal to one with high education level. To be specific, good teachers need not only know their subjects, but also how to teach it, which is the aim of “reflecting and renewing” for teachers. On the other hand, as far as I am concerned, if “knowing the students” is a requisite for a good teacher, “tests” is a prerequisite for “knowing the students”. In Chapter 3, we can adopt “listening”, “writing stories” or “observing” to know our students deeply and accurately. However, it cannot be neglected that these methods are time consuming. The vital duty of teachers is to teach knowledge towards students. Therefore, teachers can design different plans to understand each student, based on their grades of tests, which contribute to improving teaching efficiency.
Teachers have multiple roles. Teachers can be seen as a role model, a parent, and even a nurse. I never realized that there’s a lot more to teaching than just giving lessons until I actually started my Practicum experience. I think that Grant and Murray stresses the importance of the essential acts of teaching. When we get to know the students, we are not only engaged in their lives, but we are also a reflection of how they do in school. The students grow and develop throughout the year being in the classroom. Teachers go through an extensive period of education. It’s important to have the background knowledge needed to work with students. It’s a job that involves a strong sense of commitment which can strengthen or hinder the relationships that have been built in the school.
Much of what Grant and Murray discussed are things I’ve been studying and working to improve while in college. Teaching requires a teacher to know their students, get them engaged, and more in order to teach. One of the aspects that really stood out to me was reflecting and renewing. As Grant and Murray mentioned, schools are pushing for their future teachers to be more reflective. VCU really emphasizes this and reminds us to always reflective and change our teaching, our lessons, ourselves. Becoming a better teacher involves being able to recognize where you have room to grow, what could have gone better, and how well it worked with the students. Something that I think many people who aren’t teachers don’t realize is that we are constantly learning and keeping up with the information we are teaching. We have to refresh and be able to teach material they have long forgotten since maybe elementary school. Not only is the material constantly changing, but the students as well. Most cases, a teacher will have a new set of students to teach each year and will have to adjust their mindset and way of teaching to be able to reach to the students. We’ve learned time and time again of ways to actually teach the students, discovering what works best for them or finding a balance between the work and instruction. Being critically reflective is essential to being an effective teacher and growing.
I really enjoyed reading the Grant & Murray chapters for this week. I agreed with many points that they brought up. I love how they refer to teaching as, "not a science, but a craft". My belief about teaching is that we use the knowledge of the curriculum, but we shape it to our students. Teachers must have this amazing skill of being creative and social. We teach the student, we do not teach curriculum (per say). Our instruction is not a check list, rather, it is being able to step into our students' shoes and deliver what we know so that our students can understand. We then take our students' understandings and turn them into questions and curiosity. Up to now, I thought that a lesson would be successful once we are able to get our students to understand the content through our successful use of differentiation or addressing "learning styles" - which do not exist according to our Educational Psychology course. However, to assess their full understanding, we, as teachers, must have our students apply what they have learned through vivid learning experiences.
In the second chapter, I really liked the emphasis of the three questions in which teachers ask on a daily basis. Early in the education program, I honestly had the mindset that teaching was going to be so fun, I'd be able to do everything I want - be around students, be creative, and be organized. However, the more I learned about the contexts behind teaching and how unfair our position in society is (we don't get to make decisions on what/how we teach, our schools most of the time don't get to make decisions on that matter, we are constantly being ridiculed), I became even more passionate about this profession. We constantly have to question our relationships - with our students, with our colleagues, with parents, and with society as a whole. However, it IS the fact that we all share this mindset that we love our students and that we want them to be ready for the world - no matter how unfair and cruel it is but we can also show them how beautiful the world can be and that there are people who care for them and their achievements. As teachers, we are that bridge between childhood and society. We may choose to filter, OR we can use what is going on in our society and in our world to help our students learn.
So I felt that my own beliefs of what a teacher should be sharply align with those that Murray and Grant outline in their book. I like that they acknowledged how much teaching skill seems intuitive but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze and attempt to provide some rigor to our pedagogy. Their focus on the “Essential Acts” thoroughly engaged the aspects of teaching that I felt are necessary to be effective. Here is my take on them:
Not every student learns the same way, and every student brings in their own world with them into the classroom. As teachers we need to be aware of this because there is never going to be some master lesson that will work for every student ever (Knowing your students).
Students need to be invested and engaged to really gain a deep conceptual understanding of the content versus just repeating procedure (Engagement).
We need to recognize that we do some hidden and informal teaching by simply being a role model (Model a good life). We should be able to gauge a student’s growth so that we can continue to challenge them to encourage further growth. (Assess Growth)
And finally we must be critical of ourselves and be willing to change how we approach things in order to maximize student growth. (Reflecting)
For chapter 4, I don’t really know how I would answer those questions. My goal is to however strike that balance between expertise and nurturing. I wish to be effective at teaching my content but at the same time I believe that relationships with the students are an important part of the process. I would like to be an active agent in shaping the “ethos” of my school, but wonder at my ability to do so. Similarly I further doubts about where I may fall in the transmitter or transformer continuum..
Callie speaking...
ReplyDeleteThese two chapters were had me thinking of a lot of what I have been taught both in my undergraduate and graduate classes. One of the major ideas that was referenced in chapter 3 was the concept of "knowing your students". I can't tell you how many times I've heard my professors talk about this and how vital it is for your classroom community. It's extremely difficult for any learning to happen if I, the teacher, am presenting the information in one single way. There are going to be several different learning styles within my classroom each year and getting to know which students respond to which style is going to be critical if there is going to be any growth and progress throughout my time with them. Reading that phrase, knowing your students, resinates with me more and more each time I read it. Beyond in the classroom, what good is it to just know your students on the surface level? Forming bonds with members of the family close to the children builds a strong foundation for communication between home and school. Maybe Johnny's parents are getting divorced which has contributed to his abnormal, disruptive behavior. Perhaps Johnny didn't tell you any of this and so you asked his mom or dad about anything possibly causing this behavior. Without communicating home and trying to figure out what the problem was, the problem would have continued, only making my job more difficult to get Johnny to learn and socialize.
Growing up, I don't ever recall much differentiation between my classmates and myself with what kind of work we were doing. We were all given the same worksheets to complete and to work on them individually at our desks. I never really thought anything of it until I came to declare my major to education. The thought hadn't crossed my mind that a classroom could look anything but rows of desks and completing worksheets through memorization. Throughout my time in college I have learned and understood how different education can look in an elementary classroom, and its remarkable. We, as humans, learn by doing. So why for all this time have we just been reading about it in a textbook and regurgitated that information on a test? My professors have preached about how we can assess students through various means, informally and formally; tests are not the only way. There are projects, papers, field trips, etc. It has been quite a pleasant surprise to see that they are practicing what they preach. This semester I only have one test in all of my classes. This is proving that we can assess knowledge in many different ways, and we need to utilize our strengths in that.
Arica here….
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about my future classroom, I have always thought about the relationships I will build with my students and the relationships I will have with my co-workers, but I never really thought about how society would affect my teaching. Maybe I did a little, but in an unconscious way. Just like we talked about last class and Grant and Murry mentioned in chapter 3, there is no such thing as a neutral classroom. Your culture and experience will impact your teaching and how you handle situations, just as those things impact how students learn. I think it is interesting that we have heard so many times that we need to consider our student’s personal lives when setting expectations and determining how to present the content, but I have never actually thought about how these things will affect my teaching. We even talked about on the first day of class what we thought the point of public education was, and a common response was how to make students good citizens. What we believe is a ‘good citizen’ is subjectable. We determine what we believe is acceptable for one person to say to another or what behaviors are accepted. These things can vary from culture to culture or even family to family. I think this is what makes teaching even more difficult. One of the chapters stated that about two-thirds of parents believe that providing students with both personal and social development should be shared equally between home and school. This surprised me because how do we remain ‘neutral’ without putting our values and morals on students while still guiding them through personal and social development?
Sarah Pauley
ReplyDeleteWe as teachers are taught that we need to know our students, show them love, be firm with them, teach them that they can do anything, but the most important thing I read about in the reading that i can relate to is modeling to your students. In the article it talks about a teacher models by showing the student she cares for their ideas. "What this teacher models is caring for ideas. She is saying to the students: Your ideas and what you are saying about Bigger Thomas matters to me, I am here to learn, too." (pg. 44). While reading this, I truly related. You have to show your children that you care about what they are thinking, and if you do that, the students will listen to you more. They will respect you more when you show how much you care for them. Modeling is something EVERY teacher needs to do. A lot of students come from homes where the parents are not exactly there all the time. This could be from working a lot, or just not wanting to be involved in their lives. No matter the reason, it is our jobs to help shape our students into the best version of themselves. So we need to model love for them, patience, tough-love, manners, how you treat people, and so much more. It is a hard job to do every day, but it is absolutely worth it when you can teach them to be the best version of themself. It is only hard when they leave school and go to a home where these concepts are not enforced, and everything you tried modeling for them goes out the window. I remember calling my dad crying one day because it was a tough realization with one student I worked with. He was a student who had some behavioral issues, and I worked with him ALL day one day and he had come so far in just a little bit of time. When I went into class the next day, I was excited to see what he had been doing. Sadly he was right back to where he had been. His family at home was terrible. His dad was barely around, his mom worked two jobs, and she only had time for my student's brother. I called my dad crying after I left because it is so hard when you try and teach these kids to be the best version of themselves, and they make such progress, but it is all gone because they dont have someone at home to care and enforce these morals. It is worth it in the end, no matter how hard it is because they need us, and they need someone to show them all these things. Modeling is so important for students, and that will be one thing I do when I have my own class.
Since I began to think seriously about being a teacher I’ve always said that I have a professional obligation to teach the curriculum, but I feel a personal obligation to teach more than just the curriculum. Grant and Murray talk about modeling as being one of the essential acts of teaching, but I think that modeling goes far beyond the standards; teachers should be modeling kindness, empathy, and thoughtfulness – which can be a launching pad for engaging and motivating students as you build those relationships over time. Two of the questions that Grant and Murray asked really struck me: “What is my responsibility for shaping the ethos of the school?” and “Am I primarily a transmitter or transformer of my society’s values?” Both of those questions really made me think about the larger implications of the teaching profession. I think it is so easy to get caught up in the four walls of your classroom and forget that your classroom exists inside of a larger school community (and that school exists in an even larger community). We discussed last class that is virtually impossible to not indoctrinate (impose upon) students and Grant and Murray reinforced this idea when they talked about how no classroom is neutral. No man/woman/boy/girl/classroom is an island and I believe that we have a responsibility to create an environment that nurtures children in such a way that they go out into the world and yield a positive influence. While the idea of “positive influence” is broad and subjective, I think that it comes down to doing what you think is right as both the professional and a human being and finding the appropriate balance between the two.
ReplyDeleteIn both of the Grant and Murray chapters, the authors discuss many aspects of teaching including knowing our students, creating engaging and motivating environments, modeling, evaluating student work, and reflecting on our practice. Some of the topics discussed have to do with pedagogical methods for instruction that can be taught while others discuss aspects of teaching that deal with things that can’t explicitly be taught (ex. opinions on teaching beyond the curriculum). As I have gone through my programs at VCU, I have internally battled with what it practically looks like to be a teacher that teaches beyond the curriculum. Of course I believe teaching content is important and one of the biggest responsibilities I will have, but I desire more. I wouldn’t feel satisfied or fulfilled if I stopped there. I believe that my responsibility as a teacher of young children includes the responsibility to teach kindness, respect, confidence, and so on. In chapter 3, the authors discuss how teachers implicitly or subconsciously model values in the way they call on students (ex. more boys than girls) or ignore slander in hallways (showing that they don’t care about the derogatory comment that was made). Because I have such a strong desire for every student of mine to feel safe, valued, and cared for in my classroom, which was also discussed in the reading, I absolutely feel the need to teach more than just academic curriculum.
ReplyDelete-Stephanie Liggitt
Brianna here…
ReplyDeleteMany of the aspects of teaching that Grant and Murray highlighted are things that are very familiar to me for various reasons, such as my own thoughts on teaching and classes which I have taken throughout the VCU program. For example, the concept of knowing your students and modeling are two very important topics which have been covered in length in multiple classes. One of the things that most drew me to pursue a career in teaching is its consistent aspect of human connections, whether that is with students, parents, or colleagues. A quote that stuck out to me while reading was, “Our “curriculum is not a preset plan imposed from above but a mutual creation of lively minds and feeling hearts.” This was in the section about modeling, though, I think it also exhibits a great deal of knowing your student(s) to be able to teach like this. While we are modeling in hopes of teaching our students to be open-minded, lifelong learners, we must practice this as well starting in our own classrooms. In order to promote lifelong learning it is essential for teachers to know their students on a level in which a student feels comfortable enough to stray from the set curriculum and pose questions. The modeling section may sound a bit lofty, but, I connected really well to it, especially, “the best teachers inspire us because we are falling in love with what we want to become; we are awakening our own latent capacities.” When I read that I couldn’t help but think of all the teachers and professors that touched my life and heart in some way and made an impact on me. For instance, I clearly remember many times in high school when I would be unmotivated to complete reading or an assignment because frankly I wasn’t interested in the content. Then, I would often think about my teacher, and what he/she would think if I didn’t complete my work, and that would motivate me enough to do so. But, it was those teachers who exhibited many qualities that Grant and Murray speak of that had that impact on me. In the section on reflecting when the various critiques of teachers were being presented I was informed once again that this profession, and I as a teacher will always be getting critiqued. Someone will always think another other way of doing something is the right way, but one cannot dwell on the neverending critiques to be successful in this career. Instead, I think it’s important to view it as another reminder that as a professional we are also the learners, and must continue to evolve in our knowledge and practice. Overall, I think the excerpts are screaming one thing: teaching needs to be student-centered, and teachers need to have their students best interest at heart.
Many of the aspects of teaching that Grand and Murray point out align with what I have learned thus far in undergraduate and graduate courses. It is reiterated that in order to make lessons engaging and relatable to students we must appeal to students' individual interests. Almost every class that I have taken up until now has stressed the importance of getting to know your students. Showing the students that you care about what they're interested in and how they're feeling in class will make them so much more comfortable, therefore more ready to learn.
ReplyDeleteChapter 3 also talks about the importance of modeling for the students. I found this part of the chapter particularly important given a hypothetical situation that was posed to the class last week. It is so important that teachers remember that they are not only teaching the academic material that the students need to know, but they are modeling how to care, listen to, and respond to others. This "hidden curriculum" is arguably more important than what the teachers are instructed to teach.
-Maris
Mary here...
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to hear that some people view teachers as "babysitters". In a sense they do have to watch a classroom full of children all day, but there's more to it than just "watching". While reading Grant and Murray’s Teaching in America, I found myself agreeing with the text. They talk about teaching as if it includes many different professions. Not only do teachers teach, but also strategize effective ways to motivate and engage students similar to how management teams work with their employees. Teachers observe students and allow them to ask questions similar to the job of a scientist. Teachers provide informative feedback and receive feedback from students. Teachers are inventors, always finding different ways to challenge and inspire students. They also make an effort to know their students inside and out. They are detectives looking for clues that lead them to discover if a student understands or struggles with a concept. Teachers guide students through topics with techniques like modeling and coaching. Teachers reflect upon lesson plans and work as a team with students to learn together. They create a caring community in the classroom, which provides a sense of security. Teachers are judges and evaluators when assessing students’ knowledge.
While reading the two chapters, Grant and Murray discuss a couple of character traits that teachers should have. In chapter 3, the authors suggest that if you want to be someone special in your students’ lives, you must make way to know your students. Sure, it is our main job as teachers to educate students in different subjects based on the school curriculum, but we should also make and effort to listen to our students. This does not mean to have a one-on-one talk about life with each student, but to focus on what each student says during class discussions and/or carefully read what they write in essays or journals. Giving them genuine feedback can also help the bond grow stronger. “They long for more teachers like him, teachers who honestly judge them on this day’s work, and provide carefully orchestrated feedback about how they can do better” (46). When I was eating lunch with my third graders last year, I decided to sit next to a student who did not talk as much as the other kids. I assumed that he was a shy student. I asked him simple questions you would ask a regular child (ex. what’s your favorite food/color/thing to do?). After we finished our little conversation about food, I asked him if he had any siblings. He replied under his breath saying, “my older brother is in jail”. Trying to act like I was not shocked, I thanked him for sharing something personal to me and asked him if he had more siblings. During the rest of the lunch period, he talked about the things him and his little sister would do after school. Ever since that day, I noticed that we definitely grew a bond. He would always give me hugs, talk about what he did over the weekend, and sit next to me on the rug. Making the effort to know your students personally can not only affect their performance in school, but can also give them another person they trust in their lives.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I learned from the chapters is that when motivating your students, tough criticism is necessary. This does not mean that teachers should be mean and strict or bubbly and cheery, but be good coaches and not give up on them.
-Jin Kim
Honestly, the way the authors talk about teaching speaks to the much more complicated and involved roles that teachers play than I think the general public really gives them credit for. For that matter, while I myself had some deep, meaningful goals when I decided to become a teacher (who doesn’t?) I didn’t realize just exactly what the extent was of the responsibility I was being charged with. It took not even the entirety my initial semester in this program to completely see and identify with what Grant and Murray are talking about. I wanted to be an advocate for my students, and still do, but now I feel like I’m better prepared to undertake such a task.
ReplyDeleteFor example, they talk at length about knowing your students. On the surface I think we shrug our shoulders and believe that’s a given. Of course establishing relationships with them would be a good thing, but I doubt that many of us knew just how important that aspect of teaching would be. Not only does it play to establishing a sense of community, but also provokes engagement and motivation. I can better teach my students if I know them, and I can better advocate for them too by knowing what they need through this relationship. It’s not enough to simply master your content area in order to teach it to others (an observation I would like many undergraduate programs/professors to consider).
As educators, our roles are far more complex than a simple transfer of information. My middle school practicum last semester was particularly eye opening in that regard. The experience of it made much of the reading resonate. I walked into a classroom where not only was I not a master of the content (it was an English class, I’m social studies), but I had no familiarity with the school, its administration, the school’s goals academic or otherwise, nor my mentor teacher’s personal goals. For much of the initial foray into this experience, I had to rely on the relationships I was building piece by piece. I constructed their service-learning project this way: by asking them what they thought was important to better their school, and how they’d like to get involved with their community. As a result, I got engagement and participation that I could scarcely have hoped for. I’m not naïve. I know it wont always be that easy, nor will I always achieve the same results, but to see that message put into action, “know your students, build relationships with them” makes me optimistic in the grand scheme of things.
The views shared in the Grant and Murray readings align with those that I’ve formed throughout the courses I’ve taken here at VCU. One view that greatly stood out was the first of the three questions every teacher must answer; “What balance do I strike between expertise and nurturance?” As the theme of the reading implies, I feel as though you can only truly begin to teach and reach your students after you have established a trusting, loving relationship and classroom community. Especially considering that some students may only receive emotional support via what you’re providing in the classroom. Because of this fact, I find it even more important to be that caring role in the classroom and to provide students with a model of what it means to be an educated, caring individual. The time spent developing community is crucial when it comes to the manner in which your students could accept your advice, care, and instruction.
ReplyDeleteI realize not everyone may feel as passionate about this topic as I and that not everyone displays their level of care in the same way. The book stated, “every teacher… must work out a comfortable balance between presenting herself as expert or as someone who cares and nurtures.” It’s important that everyone find their own perfect balance of what it means to be someone who shows a caring, nurturing side to their students.
I found that the views mentioned in both of the chapter readings align with how I think of teaching as a profession. It was great to see it described as something more than the classic "glorified babysitting". If anything, teaching is multifaceted in nature and more people should understand that. Chapter three explained the personal implications of teaching. Not only is the teacher responsible as the expert in the multiple subject areas, but is responsible for making their students productive citizens in society and have an obligation to create a safe community in their classroom. I strongly agreed with the idea of reflection in the third chapter. I think all professions are reflective in nature, mostly stemming from the idea that we as people are always on the road to better ourselves. The difference with teaching is that not only do we want to better ourselves in our practice, but we want to better our students as well. And not only do we want this, but the parents want it too. We have an army of little humans to mold into decent people and a horde of angry parents who want to make sure you get it done. This just makes it so much more critical to have a nurturing and loving classroom community. I think teaching is a tough job that not many give credit for. Teachers wear multiple hats and are responsible for far much more than most career paths ask of their members. I found both chapters to have similar views as to how I see teaching myself and teaching as a profession.
ReplyDelete-Brittany
My computer hates me... I am going to try typing this for the third time now.
ReplyDeleteI think that this chapter really lined up with my view of the profession. It is not an easy job to do. It is something that is really complicated to do. You are instilling knowledge, values and common curtesousy in the next generation and that is not something to be taken lightly. It is also something that is not just an 8-3:30 job. You have to do teach from 8-3:30 then you go home and plan for 2 or 3 hours to get yourself together for the next day. It is a lot of work that teachers are not given credit nor are they compensated for. I saw a video on facebook called If Teachers were Treated like NFL Stars and it shined a light on something that many often overlook. There is a reason why 50% of new teachers change professions within 5 years of starting. I think that our program does a better job of giving us a more prepared foundation but still that can only get us so far. So how do we fix this and keep our teachers?
-Farrell Bishop
One of the first things in the reading that really stood out for me was the comparison that Grant and Murray made between school teachers and university professors and how both are doing essentially the same job when teaching. However, I feel, and Grant and Murray seem to agree, that a divide has grown between the two, mostly due to how the institutions of schools and universities have developed. To me, it seems that university professors do not share the same duty of really getting to know their students or needing to differentiate their instruction based on an individual student's needs the same way school teachers do. There seems to be a sort of unspoken expectation that once a student moves from high school to university, that all of their individual needs become their own to manage and that the educational supports that they relied upon previously are now no longer there. Gone are IEPs and differentiated instruction. If this is the case, how do we, as educators, prepare these students for the transition to university? If one of our goals is to help prepare students for the next step in their educational journey, what can we do in our classrooms to both help them succeed with the curriculum we are teaching them while simultaneously getting them ready to fend for themselves when they get to university?
ReplyDelete-Marc Heaton
Grant and Murray touched on the various aspects of teaching, which include but are not limited to knowing the students, being engaging, and modeling appropriately. It demonstrates how teachers have countless roles in and outside of the classroom. As a future school counselor, I appreciated how Jessica Siegel gave her students the journal topic of 'Who Am I? Describe Yourself.' It not only gives them the opportunity to be vulnerable, but it shows how Siegel is willing to meet the students where they are. Being able to understand and empathize with the students, in my opinion, allows for greater opportunities in making connections and building rapport. While some of her colleagues felt it was inviting disappointment and creating excuses for poor performance, I thought it was admirable how she wanted to get to know her students on a more personal level. Knowing them on a deeper level creates that caring relationship Grant and Murray talked about in chapter 4. Noddings argues that not all children are blessed with parents who give them emotional support or provide models of what it means to be educated. Therefore, the caring role of teachers is critical to their development. I also resonated with how Noddings said "there is no method... that will allow teachers to meet 150-200 new students every year and establish the atmosphere of caring that children deserve." The recommended ratio of school counselor to students is 1:250. Yet, my current practicum placement ratio is 1:560. School counselors also face challenges of creating meaningful one on one bonds with students. It's impossible to build rapport with all 560 students during the year, but it's imperative to try.
ReplyDelete-Hannah C.
The Grant and Murray chapters this week presented a familiar theme that has been discussed in many of my education courses here at VCU; teaching is not a static skill which may be acquired and simply repeated. The profession of teaching is a layered endeavor which requires constant maintenance. This is a concept with which I wholeheartedly agree. In chapter 3, the five processes discussed (knowing your students, engaging/motivating, modeling, judging/evaluating, and reflecting/renewal) effectively summarized my classroom management and teaching methods courses. Chapter 4 spoke to the one question I believe most of us struggle to identify and articulate: What kind of teacher am I going to be? Whether we have come to an answer or not, our beliefs will be put to the test in our first year teaching. Hopefully, the kind of teacher we are in year one is not the same teacher we are in year five nor year 20. Our professionalism as teachers is defined by our ability to develop, implement, and critique our skill sets through a continuous cycle self evaluation and adaptation.
ReplyDeleteMichaela Richmond
ReplyDeleteGrant and Murray discussed a lot of topics that many of my VCU professors have discussed in class. I really liked that they talked about being reflective in our practice. In order for us to get better, especially as upcoming new teachers, we have to consider what goes well and what doesn’t go well in our lessons. I’ve definitely thought about how to be reflective in my practice, even if it’s difficult to think about. I also liked their three questions teachers need to answer. It really helps me think about what my role is as a teacher. I’ve assumed that my role would be clear-cut once I got into the classroom, but after reading these questions in the text, I realize it’s not that simple. I think why teaching isn’t taken as seriously as a profession is because we don’t explicitly answer these questions as teachers. Since the role of teacher varies from person to person, others consider teaching as a quasi-profession. While I don’t agree with that sentiment, I do think we should be more up front with our answers to these questions. We shouldn’t be afraid to discuss these answers and learn how our fellow teachers feel. When we open up this discussion, I think it helps our profession move forward.
Katie here,
ReplyDeleteIn these chapters, Grant and Murray lay the foundation for the essential acts of teaching by saying, “These essential acts are knowing their students, engaging them in learning, acting as models of a good life, assessing students’ moral and intellectual growth, and reflecting on the arts of teaching that enable growth,” (p.32). Since I have been a student at VCU, every professor has stated that we need to know our students. Finding out their interests and incorporating them into learning is crucial for their self motivation. This concept directly connects to their discussion on engaging and motivating students. They refer to this as an art involving, “questioning, appreciating, inventing, providing experiences, and guiding-occasionally goading,” (p.38). I honestly never thought the teachers I had after elementary school were all that interested in getting us excited to learn, let alone caring about our interests. I think there is a shift in the attitudes teachers have once they begin teaching in middle school and beyond. Why is that? Perhaps they feel that they need to become more strict and prepare students for their adult lives. However, isn’t that robbing them of their childhoods? These questions relate to my idea of teaching as a profession. A lot of the time, some teachers have the opinion that their job is to teach and have students excel in tests. However, I believe an additional responsibility in this profession is to learn students’ interests, get to know them, and guide them towards becoming better people. Some people view this as going above and beyond in the teaching profession, but I feel that it is something everyone should be doing without even thinking about it.
Chapter 3 had a lot of information that aligns with what I have learned throughout my time at VCU about what being a teacher is. The chapter talked a lot about getting to know your students, and I feel as though my program has drilled that into my skull. In undergraduate and graduate classes, almost every professor has talked about the importance of getting to know your students. And I agree- it is a very important part of the job! You have to get to know them in order to figure out what motivates them, and that is important because you want them to succeed. This chapter also talks about asking "good questions" which I feel like goes back to everything I've learned thus far about being a reflective practitioner. You want to be able to ask your students "good questions" and you want to teach them how to make their own. That information will be vital about what your next steps will be. Are your students ready to move on, or no? I really enjoyed that part of the chapter. I feel as though this chapter had a lot of key points about what to do, and what not to do.
ReplyDelete-Ashleigh Ingram
Based on the Chapter 3, although “teachers” and “professors” are engaged in totally different professions, they still perform some essential acts in common. According to Grant and Murray, “these essential acts are knowing their students, engaging them in learning, acting as models of a good life, assessing students’ moral and intellectual growth, and reflecting on the arts of teaching that enable that growth” (p.32). When I was in high school, I thought that the higher the education level you obtained, the better a teacher you would become. Because teaching, for me, merely meant telling students what a teacher knew and learned before. But when I entered collage, I found that I cannot clearly understand what some teachers/professors said at class, even though these teachers/professors had obtained doctor degrees (e.g. no key points, no coherence, or no clarity towards demanding problems). As Grant and Murray point out, a good teacher is not equal to one with high education level. To be specific, good teachers need not only know their subjects, but also how to teach it, which is the aim of “reflecting and renewing” for teachers. On the other hand, as far as I am concerned, if “knowing the students” is a requisite for a good teacher, “tests” is a prerequisite for “knowing the students”. In Chapter 3, we can adopt “listening”, “writing stories” or “observing” to know our students deeply and accurately. However, it cannot be neglected that these methods are time consuming. The vital duty of teachers is to teach knowledge towards students. Therefore, teachers can design different plans to understand each student, based on their grades of tests, which contribute to improving teaching efficiency.
ReplyDeleteTeachers
ReplyDeleteTeachers have multiple roles. Teachers can be seen as a role model, a parent, and even a nurse. I never realized that there’s a lot more to teaching than just giving lessons until I actually started my Practicum experience. I think that Grant and Murray stresses the importance of the essential acts of teaching. When we get to know the students, we are not only engaged in their lives, but we are also a reflection of how they do in school. The students grow and develop throughout the year being in the classroom. Teachers go through an extensive period of education. It’s important to have the background knowledge needed to work with students. It’s a job that involves a strong sense of commitment which can strengthen or hinder the relationships that have been built in the school.
DeleteMuch of what Grant and Murray discussed are things I’ve been studying and working to improve while in college. Teaching requires a teacher to know their students, get them engaged, and more in order to teach. One of the aspects that really stood out to me was reflecting and renewing. As Grant and Murray mentioned, schools are pushing for their future teachers to be more reflective. VCU really emphasizes this and reminds us to always reflective and change our teaching, our lessons, ourselves. Becoming a better teacher involves being able to recognize where you have room to grow, what could have gone better, and how well it worked with the students. Something that I think many people who aren’t teachers don’t realize is that we are constantly learning and keeping up with the information we are teaching. We have to refresh and be able to teach material they have long forgotten since maybe elementary school. Not only is the material constantly changing, but the students as well. Most cases, a teacher will have a new set of students to teach each year and will have to adjust their mindset and way of teaching to be able to reach to the students. We’ve learned time and time again of ways to actually teach the students, discovering what works best for them or finding a balance between the work and instruction. Being critically reflective is essential to being an effective teacher and growing.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Coronado
Lyly here...
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading the Grant & Murray chapters for this week. I agreed with many points that they brought up. I love how they refer to teaching as, "not a science, but a craft". My belief about teaching is that we use the knowledge of the curriculum, but we shape it to our students. Teachers must have this amazing skill of being creative and social. We teach the student, we do not teach curriculum (per say). Our instruction is not a check list, rather, it is being able to step into our students' shoes and deliver what we know so that our students can understand. We then take our students' understandings and turn them into questions and curiosity. Up to now, I thought that a lesson would be successful once we are able to get our students to understand the content through our successful use of differentiation or addressing "learning styles" - which do not exist according to our Educational Psychology course. However, to assess their full understanding, we, as teachers, must have our students apply what they have learned through vivid learning experiences.
In the second chapter, I really liked the emphasis of the three questions in which teachers ask on a daily basis. Early in the education program, I honestly had the mindset that teaching was going to be so fun, I'd be able to do everything I want - be around students, be creative, and be organized. However, the more I learned about the contexts behind teaching and how unfair our position in society is (we don't get to make decisions on what/how we teach, our schools most of the time don't get to make decisions on that matter, we are constantly being ridiculed), I became even more passionate about this profession. We constantly have to question our relationships - with our students, with our colleagues, with parents, and with society as a whole. However, it IS the fact that we all share this mindset that we love our students and that we want them to be ready for the world - no matter how unfair and cruel it is but we can also show them how beautiful the world can be and that there are people who care for them and their achievements. As teachers, we are that bridge between childhood and society. We may choose to filter, OR we can use what is going on in our society and in our world to help our students learn.
So I felt that my own beliefs of what a teacher should be sharply align with those that Murray and Grant outline in their book. I like that they acknowledged how much teaching skill seems intuitive but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze and attempt to provide some rigor to our pedagogy. Their focus on the “Essential Acts” thoroughly engaged the aspects of teaching that I felt are necessary to be effective. Here is my take on them:
ReplyDeleteNot every student learns the same way, and every student brings in their own world with them into the classroom. As teachers we need to be aware of this because there is never going to be some master lesson that will work for every student ever (Knowing your students).
Students need to be invested and engaged to really gain a deep conceptual understanding of the content versus just repeating procedure (Engagement).
We need to recognize that we do some hidden and informal teaching by simply being a role model (Model a good life).
We should be able to gauge a student’s growth so that we can continue to challenge them to encourage further growth. (Assess Growth)
And finally we must be critical of ourselves and be willing to change how we approach things in order to maximize student growth. (Reflecting)
For chapter 4, I don’t really know how I would answer those questions. My goal is to however strike that balance between expertise and nurturing. I wish to be effective at teaching my content but at the same time I believe that relationships with the students are an important part of the process. I would like to be an active agent in shaping the “ethos” of my school, but wonder at my ability to do so. Similarly I further doubts about where I may fall in the transmitter or transformer continuum..
Peter LaBarr