S.S.S.S. - Some Things that work for Some People Some of the Time and Some Reasons why.
I love being a teacher. I truly cannot imagine work that would make me happier or more fulfilled.
The blessing and challenge about my job is that, when I am in the classroom, I am on my own. I have the freedom and responsibility to create the best possible learning environment for my students.
The blessing and challenge about my job is that, when I am in the classroom, I am on my own. I have the freedom and responsibility to create the best possible learning environment for my students.
I still have moments where I stare at my desk five minutes before class searching for that key - phrase, activity, worksheet, graph - that will unlock the students' understanding of this particular concept.
(I should probably mention here that I have been teaching for 15 years.)
Tenure-track teachers are now required to write a teaching philosophy at my college. I have never been required to do that, and I am quite intimidated at the thought.
Teaching philosophy?
The smart-aleck Kentucky girl in me quips "How about...Learn'em real good?!?"
A quick Google search leads me to several sites that talk about addressing the needs of my students and department...which sounds really good. BUT...don't those needs change? From class to class? From year to year? From student to student? I just cannot fathom one philosophy statement that would serve for me in all situations.
I don't know if I can articulate everything I want to accomplish inside my classroom throughout every semester, every class, for every student. Maybe that comes from not really being able to articulate what I feel my role always is.
Am I the "guide on the side"? Am I an academic personal trainer? Am I a grader, tutor, cheerleader, counselor, bureaucrat, really good talker? In any given semester, I feel that I match all of those descriptions at one time or another. Which one is the main one? What should I be reaching for most of the time? I just don't know.
Sometimes I feel that lecturing is best (there, I said it). Sometimes I feel that hands on discovery works well. Sometimes I feel that all they need is to try these problems next to another student and talk them out. Sometimes a rallying speech around "you can do it!" works wonders. Sometimes a pleading "For goodness sake, please think!" gets us through a rough patch.
The real difficulty is that to do my job well (I think), I have to make everyone uncomfortable. My students need to struggle a bit to hone a skill for their academic toolbelts. I need to stretch my comfort zone to keep from sounding stale. The college needs to offer professional and technical support, which requires money, time and space (which we don't always have).
It helps to talk to my fellow teachers...all of the different viewpoints of what exactly we should be doing in there are SO very interesting and very diverse. The conversations highlight that teaching is a very personal activity for all of us. We all have our own visions (SSSS). And those ideas can change and evolve as we get more experience.
A teaching philosophy whose themes are "learn'em real good" and "make everyone uncomfortable" might not get published in a journal, or be well-accepted by my dean, but it is all I have got right now.
If I were better at writing maybe I could make it sound better? ;)
I don't know if I can articulate everything I want to accomplish inside my classroom throughout every semester, every class, for every student. Maybe that comes from not really being able to articulate what I feel my role always is.
Am I the "guide on the side"? Am I an academic personal trainer? Am I a grader, tutor, cheerleader, counselor, bureaucrat, really good talker? In any given semester, I feel that I match all of those descriptions at one time or another. Which one is the main one? What should I be reaching for most of the time? I just don't know.
Sometimes I feel that lecturing is best (there, I said it). Sometimes I feel that hands on discovery works well. Sometimes I feel that all they need is to try these problems next to another student and talk them out. Sometimes a rallying speech around "you can do it!" works wonders. Sometimes a pleading "For goodness sake, please think!" gets us through a rough patch.
The real difficulty is that to do my job well (I think), I have to make everyone uncomfortable. My students need to struggle a bit to hone a skill for their academic toolbelts. I need to stretch my comfort zone to keep from sounding stale. The college needs to offer professional and technical support, which requires money, time and space (which we don't always have).
It helps to talk to my fellow teachers...all of the different viewpoints of what exactly we should be doing in there are SO very interesting and very diverse. The conversations highlight that teaching is a very personal activity for all of us. We all have our own visions (SSSS). And those ideas can change and evolve as we get more experience.
A teaching philosophy whose themes are "learn'em real good" and "make everyone uncomfortable" might not get published in a journal, or be well-accepted by my dean, but it is all I have got right now.
If I were better at writing maybe I could make it sound better? ;)
We have to write a teaching philosophy?
ReplyDeleteWhere did I miss that one? It's a good thing I have you to let me in on these things. Who would want to read anything I wrote after reading the words as someone as insightful and thoughtful as you?
I had to write one to get my job, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the one here...and I was all academic-y and grad-school snooty when I wrote mine.
ReplyDeleteYours has the wisdom of a teacher in the classroom who knows how to reach the students.
I like academic personal trainer! I say run with that one. You are the best!
ReplyDelete