29 July 2007

Teaching Meme

So, wow.. totally forgot I was part of this blog, but I'm glad to find it still intact. I plan on posting more stuff.

So, I saw this meme, and thought it was interesting. so.. here I go.

1. I am a good teacher because...
I connect with my students, I listen to them and make them feel respected, I know my subject matter and I really have the drive to teach.

2. If I weren’t a teacher, I would be... an anthropologist or a translator.

3. My teaching style is... sort of laid back, although I hope to get more rigid as time goes on.

4. My classroom is... full of posters and books and full of my own style. I want it to be a place students find comfortable, a place they want to be (which, they have shown me is completely true).

5. My lesson plans are... done two weeks in advance, and neatly arranged in a binder and color coded with handouts present and a post-lesson reflection... Who am I kidding.. That's a goal, not reality! Done on the fly, usually and written down only if I remember.

6. One of my teaching goals is... to focus on writing as whole, and not just as it pertains to literature. To rally teach grammar and not assume the students get it (because they don't sometimes).

7. The toughest part of teaching is... finding collaboration between parents, students and administrators.

8. The thing I love most about teaching is... watching a student who has truly struggled with a concept or an assignment suddenly get it. I love the light in thier eyes when this happens. It brings me true joy.

9. A common misconception about teaching is... that because we work a "6 hour day" that is all the time that is put into to teaching (and even one of those hours is a preparatory period, during which we should get everything done, right?)

10. The most important thing I’ve learned since I started teaching is... all students are different, and I should never stereotype. They will not all learn at the same pace at the same time.