The cerebrum -- which is just Latin for "brain" -- is the newest (evolutionarily) and largest part of the brain as a whole. It is here that things like perception, imagination, thought, judgment, and decision occur. I hope you are thoughtful as you leave your comments on this blog.
I like the concept and agree with it. My only question is how do we prevent young new teachers from become old out of touch teachers? I understand that they can read up on latest studies etc. but from my experiences I have seen older teachers who wanted to do more but couldn't due to lack of ability to maneuver in new technology. - Karen
Leonell D. Santos September 1, 2012 EEC 560: Managing Inclusive Environments Dr. Whitney Smith Comment What It Takes to Become a Great Teacher As a future Chemistry teacher when I read this kind of commentary, it blows my mind totally. Is something different from the things that we already hear about being a teacher and in education environment. The entire school system and the education will suffer a revolution in a good way. The lecture says something that captive my attention: “Imagine you bought a restaurant where the food was poor, and you wanted to turn things around. You could change the cuisine from French to Italian, serve larger portions, get new dishware, or play music for the customers, but as long as the food remained the same your restaurant would still be bad. How would you change the food? by hiring a good cook”. Is the same in the school system, they can change many stuffs in the school like build a pool, gym, in other words set up the school in the “best way”, but there is a little but significant detail, with all this changes and transformations our students still love the education, the school, they feel passion to learn?, the answer is no. The school system needs to hire and prepare teachers that are able to deal with this generation of youth in a totally different way than before. Professionals that could know how to engage their students in the learning process in a fun and interesting way (NO ONLY JUST TEXT BOOKS), professionals that are humans and not robots. This new generation is growing with fears and insecurities. They have lack of confidence, love, comprehension and understanding. We are facing a great challenge, because not everybody is able to deal with excellence in the classroom (I mean teachers) in other words, there is a lack of good teachers. The consequence of all of this is that we can find students not able to confront the world and society and as a result a great drop out. What I want to say is that a good teacher does not born overnight, even if he/she has the best intentions in the world. It takes time and practice. Sometimes frustration comes to us but as a professional we have to overcome. In my personal opinion what I see in the different schools that I been, many teachers and professionals have to start from zero if they want to success. In other words they have to stop thinking in themselves and start thinking on the student. Always remember that this generation is the future of our world and we have to make sure that they do great success in learning and in life.
I agree 100% with the concepts discussed in this article. Preparing today's children to be tomorrow's adults takes a lot of time and dedication. It seems that for the first time in history our children are not being prepared properly to take the place of their parents. Schools seem to be cutting way to many corners. Districts / states raise standards but do not provide the appropriate funds and resources to help our students meet these new higher standards. Ultimately they only thing we seem to be accomplishing is increasing drop out rates.
We value life tremendously, no one wants to die in the hands of a bad doctor. So why is it that we are willing to submit our children to bad teachers. If we take the time to prepare teachers similarly to the way doctors are prepared we could start to see outstanding results not only in our teachers but in our students.
I completely agree with the different point of views discussed in the article towards bettering our education system. There are teachers who complain about not having the proper resources, lack of administrative support, lack of parents involvement, misbehaved students, and most of all their colleagues. Teachers are swaying their focus on matters outside the classroom before addressing the issues within the classroom. I’m sorry, but I thought teachers were suppose to be motivational leaders, provide guidance and care for the students success instead of focusing on why another colleague has better materials or the “What he said, she said” overall situation. When did it become all about the teachers and not about the students? Instead of holding grudges over other faculty members, teachers should take initiative and try their very best to provide the best education to their students. Whether it’s making phone calls home to discuss a child’s performance, or making a home visit, applying for grants for the proper resources, etc. There are many ways a teacher can utilize his/her knowledge and go out of their way to better a child’s education, and it’s those teachers who we need to keep to make our education system actually “work.”
I am blown away by the amount, in the millions, of children that are still today dropping out of school. Is it really all the teachers?? Perhaps this is also a combination of what comes from the childs home and the parents expectations that are set from an early age. According to a New York times article that was published last week, poverty also plays a huge role in the education problem. The reading is right on point there is no doubt about it. Why are schoold still training teachers with the old school house model, why are schoold even run this way??? Perhaps it is the politics? The people who are so far out of touch with the actual classroom but yet make all the decisions that they assume are the best for the teachers and their students? With all of the pressure on teachers today, I wonder how many of them sit down and get to know each of there students one on one, their struggles, their home life, their own limitations and the things they excel in or are interestedin. It is a shame that people look at this as a waste of time. How can teachers teach to kids she knows nothing about??? It is impossible if you ask me! I once was told by a professor that if I was so interested in the way that children develop and how their minds work, or their hormones affect them that I should reconsider becoming a teacher for a psychologist. I believe we all need to be a little bit of psychologists to a certain extent.
The first thing I thought after reading this article was: I wonder if this is the authors response to Bill Gates' TED talk about education earlier that year. In his "talk" he asks the same questions: "What makes a great teacher?". He believes the most important factor to education is great teachers. The research that he found was that far more than any other factor, 'previous performance' has the greatest weight on how good a teacher is. His research also stated that most teachers' performance does not change after three years in the profession.
I agree that Susan Engel's article has a good response; if this research is true. Although I am not a teacher yet, time after time I complain about how teachers are trained. I find it hard to believe someone is ready for their own classes after four months of student teaching. Not to say it can't be done but it does not foster great teachers. I would like teachers to be hired in as co-teachers to be observed and trained by teachers who have already proven themselves. The importance of this profession is too high for there not to be continued development.
After reading this so many thoughts, issues and concerns have flooded my mind. There are some really great points made in this commentary and I do agree with most of what is being said. There should be more great teachers in schools, the ones that show passion, dedication and love for what they do. I believe as an educator and from personal experience in the field of education that it really does take a special person to be a great teacher. Everyone has different personalities, morals, beliefs, cultural values, etc. Not everyone is cut out to be a teacher. I feel some people are born with a special talent and some that either, are not, or something (as in an interest) that evolves later on. I believe with proper training and vigorous experience anyone can become something great. I also believe that this is true with many other professions. If someone has a deep interest in something as in teaching, nursing, law, business, (or whatever it may be) and is trained properly, they can learn to be great at it. The difference I feel is whether you gain a more, true passion and love for what it is you have trained to become during your actual working experiences. You either gain this or you do not, while working in the field you have studied. If you do not, I feel this is when someone becomes bored and not so interested in it anymore. Unfortunately this can very well happen. Someone can go through a whole college program and start working afterwards and realize they absolutely hate what they do. I’ve seen it happen in many people I know. In teaching, this can unfortunately happen as well. Teachers may not like what they do anymore, become stale and out of tuned with students and then the learning process is not going to happen. This is very difficult sometimes to predict. I think what truly makes a great teacher is when a person develops this love and passion on a deeper level. When you enjoy what you do and want to pass on all the knowledge and experience onto students and care about what it is you are doing, this is when you realize the passion you have. There are clearly people that go into teaching for the wrong reasons or with any field. For teaching I really feel you have to develop that passion and love for it or you will not be happy and risk becoming a not so great teacher. Maybe tenure has to be re-evaluated, and have teachers go through continuous education courses to keep up with the ever changing times so that students are continuously motivated and challenged. Technology changes every day. More passionate teachers should be hired in the school and not someone who is in it for just the perks that come along with it. On the flip side, as much as I believe that there should be more passionate great teachers in the schools, I do not believe blaming teachers for everything is the answer either. It cannot just be the teacher’s fault for everything and be the sole reason that schools aren’t good enough. There are so many other factors to consider. I am shocked at the graduation rate and the amount of students dropping out of high school stated in this article! Something clearly has to be done to turn this around. The entire school system has to work productively together to make this happen along with the students, their families and the community!
Susan Engel definitely brings up a lot of different qualities that a teacher should have. Also she talks a lot about how teachers should be prepared for anything to take place in their classroom. I agree with her one-hundred percent, but the question is: what techniques can we use to train future teachers properly?
The article talks about not teaching "by the book". I think this is very important. I remember from my own experiences sitting in classes and being bored out of my mind because the teacher was doing the same thing everyday. I always knew what to expect. The teachers I remember are the ones that changed it up and didn't just stand in front of the class to lecture. I think the problem with this is that we are so used to the same old thing. We want our teachers to change things up, yet the graduate students who are going on to teach are also stuck in classrooms with teachers who are doing the same old thing everyday. How are our future teachers going to learn to add variance to their lessons when their own professors don't add variance to their class lectures?
Also, there are so many different students/children out there, and so many with different needs that the teacher needs to address each and every single one all at the same time. How can this be done successfully? Is it possible to reach all children from different walks of life simultaneously?
I couldn't agree more about the training of teachers. Teachers should have the chance to be in a rigorous teaching environment for more hands-on experience. I feel like I'm not prepared at all to be a teacher, but hopefully student teaching next spring will help me prepare better.
I think this article raises a lot of important ideas about education in our society now. There are so many people who graduate college having no idea what they want to do with their degree, or maybe are not able to get the job they first dreamed about. This leads a lot of people "settling" to go into teaching. This, unfortunately, is breeding a new group of teachers that don't even want to be teachers, and are just using it as a means to an end: a way to get a paycheck. Not only do these people take valued positions from people who really want to be teachers, but it cause a break down in passionate and lively conversations in the schools among teachers. Some teachers will just lecture the day away not really caring whether it gets through to their students. I think, along with some of the great incentives mentioned in the article, there should be another in-school incentive for teachers. For example, teachers that get together during a free period everyday to talk about educational practices, etc., receive a pay raise. I think it is immensely important to get a conversation going between teachers, old and new, to hear new classroom strategies, what doesn't and what does work, etc. So much can be learned from personal experience, not just books.
I think one hurdle to get through would have to be older, more jaded teachers. Teachers that have no interest in changing their ways. It is important to keep learning and modifying and sometimes teachers who are set in their ways don't feel like reforming. This can also be dangerous for young teachers, to hear all the pessimism from these seasoned veterans. It is important to keep a dialogue going, but one that is beneficial to both parties.
10 comments:
I like the concept and agree with it. My only question is how do we prevent young new teachers from become old out of touch teachers? I understand that they can read up on latest studies etc. but from my experiences I have seen older teachers who wanted to do more but couldn't due to lack of ability to maneuver in new technology. - Karen
Leonell D. Santos September 1, 2012
EEC 560: Managing Inclusive Environments
Dr. Whitney Smith
Comment
What It Takes to Become a Great Teacher
As a future Chemistry teacher when I read this kind of commentary, it blows my mind totally. Is something different from the things that we already hear about being a teacher and in education environment. The entire school system and the education will suffer a revolution in a good way.
The lecture says something that captive my attention: “Imagine you bought a restaurant where the food was poor, and you wanted to turn things around. You could change the cuisine from French to Italian, serve larger portions, get new dishware, or play music for the customers, but as long as the food remained the same your restaurant would still be bad. How would you change the food? by hiring a good cook”. Is the same in the school system, they can change many stuffs in the school like build a pool, gym, in other words set up the school in the “best way”, but there is a little but significant detail, with all this changes and transformations our students still love the education, the school, they feel passion to learn?, the answer is no. The school system needs to hire and prepare teachers that are able to deal with this generation of youth in a totally different way than before. Professionals that could know how to engage their students in the learning process in a fun and interesting way (NO ONLY JUST TEXT BOOKS), professionals that are humans and not robots. This new generation is growing with fears and insecurities. They have lack of confidence, love, comprehension and understanding. We are facing a great challenge, because not everybody is able to deal with excellence in the classroom (I mean teachers) in other words, there is a lack of good teachers. The consequence of all of this is that we can find students not able to confront the world and society and as a result a great drop out.
What I want to say is that a good teacher does not born overnight, even if he/she has the best intentions in the world. It takes time and practice. Sometimes frustration comes to us but as a professional we have to overcome.
In my personal opinion what I see in the different schools that I been, many teachers and professionals have to start from zero if they want to success. In other words they have to stop thinking in themselves and start thinking on the student. Always remember that this generation is the future of our world and we have to make sure that they do great success in learning and in life.
I agree 100% with the concepts discussed in this article. Preparing today's children to be tomorrow's adults takes a lot of time and dedication. It seems that for the first time in history our children are not being prepared properly to take the place of their parents. Schools seem to be cutting way to many corners. Districts / states raise standards but do not provide the appropriate funds and resources to help our students meet these new higher standards. Ultimately they only thing we seem to be accomplishing is increasing drop out rates.
We value life tremendously, no one wants to die in the hands of a bad doctor. So why is it that we are willing to submit our children to bad teachers. If we take the time to prepare teachers similarly to the way doctors are prepared we could start to see outstanding results not only in our teachers but in our students.
I completely agree with the different point of views discussed in the article towards bettering our education system. There are teachers who complain about not having the proper resources, lack of administrative support, lack of parents involvement, misbehaved students, and most of all their colleagues. Teachers are swaying their focus on matters outside the classroom before addressing the issues within the classroom. I’m sorry, but I thought teachers were suppose to be motivational leaders, provide guidance and care for the students success instead of focusing on why another colleague has better materials or the “What he said, she said” overall situation. When did it become all about the teachers and not about the students? Instead of holding grudges over other faculty members, teachers should take initiative and try their very best to provide the best education to their students. Whether it’s making phone calls home to discuss a child’s performance, or making a home visit, applying for grants for the proper resources, etc. There are many ways a teacher can utilize his/her knowledge and go out of their way to better a child’s education, and it’s those teachers who we need to keep to make our education system actually “work.”
I am blown away by the amount, in the millions, of children that are still today dropping out of school. Is it really all the teachers?? Perhaps this is also a combination of what comes from the childs home and the parents expectations that are set from an early age. According to a New York times article that was published last week, poverty also plays a huge role in the education problem.
The reading is right on point there is no doubt about it. Why are schoold still training teachers with the old school house model, why are schoold even run this way??? Perhaps it is the politics? The people who are so far out of touch with the actual classroom but yet make all the decisions that they assume are the best for the teachers and their students? With all of the pressure on teachers today, I wonder how many of them sit down and get to know each of there students one on one, their struggles, their home life, their own limitations and the things they excel in or are interestedin. It is a shame that people look at this as a waste of time. How can teachers teach to kids she knows nothing about??? It is impossible if you ask me! I once was told by a professor that if I was so interested in the way that children develop and how their minds work, or their hormones affect them that I should reconsider becoming a teacher for a psychologist. I believe we all need to be a little bit of psychologists to a certain extent.
The first thing I thought after reading this article was: I wonder if this is the authors response to Bill Gates' TED talk about education earlier that year. In his "talk" he asks the same questions: "What makes a great teacher?". He believes the most important factor to education is great teachers. The research that he found was that far more than any other factor, 'previous performance' has the greatest weight on how good a teacher is. His research also stated that most teachers' performance does not change after three years in the profession.
I agree that Susan Engel's article has a good response; if this research is true. Although I am not a teacher yet, time after time I complain about how teachers are trained. I find it hard to believe someone is ready for their own classes after four months of student teaching. Not to say it can't be done but it does not foster great teachers. I would like teachers to be hired in as co-teachers to be observed and trained by teachers who have already proven themselves. The importance of this profession is too high for there not to be continued development.
What It Takes to Be a Great Teacher-Reflection:
After reading this so many thoughts, issues and concerns have flooded my mind. There are some really great points made in this commentary and I do agree with most of what is being said. There should be more great teachers in schools, the ones that show passion, dedication and love for what they do. I believe as an educator and from personal experience in the field of education that it really does take a special person to be a great teacher. Everyone has different personalities, morals, beliefs, cultural values, etc. Not everyone is cut out to be a teacher. I feel some people are born with a special talent and some that either, are not, or something (as in an interest) that evolves later on. I believe with proper training and vigorous experience anyone can become something great. I also believe that this is true with many other professions. If someone has a deep interest in something as in teaching, nursing, law, business, (or whatever it may be) and is trained properly, they can learn to be great at it. The difference I feel is whether you gain a more, true passion and love for what it is you have trained to become during your actual working experiences. You either gain this or you do not, while working in the field you have studied. If you do not, I feel this is when someone becomes bored and not so interested in it anymore. Unfortunately this can very well happen. Someone can go through a whole college program and start working afterwards and realize they absolutely hate what they do. I’ve seen it happen in many people I know. In teaching, this can unfortunately happen as well. Teachers may not like what they do anymore, become stale and out of tuned with students and then the learning process is not going to happen. This is very difficult sometimes to predict. I think what truly makes a great teacher is when a person develops this love and passion on a deeper level. When you enjoy what you do and want to pass on all the knowledge and experience onto students and care about what it is you are doing, this is when you realize the passion you have. There are clearly people that go into teaching for the wrong reasons or with any field. For teaching I really feel you have to develop that passion and love for it or you will not be happy and risk becoming a not so great teacher. Maybe tenure has to be re-evaluated, and have teachers go through continuous education courses to keep up with the ever changing times so that students are continuously motivated and challenged. Technology changes every day. More passionate teachers should be hired in the school and not someone who is in it for just the perks that come along with it. On the flip side, as much as I believe that there should be more passionate great teachers in the schools, I do not believe blaming teachers for everything is the answer either. It cannot just be the teacher’s fault for everything and be the sole reason that schools aren’t good enough. There are so many other factors to consider. I am shocked at the graduation rate and the amount of students dropping out of high school stated in this article! Something clearly has to be done to turn this around. The entire school system has to work productively together to make this happen along with the students, their families and the community!
Susan Engel definitely brings up a lot of different qualities that a teacher should have. Also she talks a lot about how teachers should be prepared for anything to take place in their classroom. I agree with her one-hundred percent, but the question is: what techniques can we use to train future teachers properly?
The article talks about not teaching "by the book". I think this is very important. I remember from my own experiences sitting in classes and being bored out of my mind because the teacher was doing the same thing everyday. I always knew what to expect. The teachers I remember are the ones that changed it up and didn't just stand in front of the class to lecture. I think the problem with this is that we are so used to the same old thing. We want our teachers to change things up, yet the graduate students who are going on to teach are also stuck in classrooms with teachers who are doing the same old thing everyday. How are our future teachers going to learn to add variance to their lessons when their own professors don't add variance to their class lectures?
Also, there are so many different students/children out there, and so many with different needs that the teacher needs to address each and every single one all at the same time. How can this be done successfully? Is it possible to reach all children from different walks of life simultaneously?
I couldn't agree more about the training of teachers. Teachers should have the chance to be in a rigorous teaching environment for more hands-on experience. I feel like I'm not prepared at all to be a teacher, but hopefully student teaching next spring will help me prepare better.
I think this article raises a lot of important ideas about education in our society now. There are so many people who graduate college having no idea what they want to do with their degree, or maybe are not able to get the job they first dreamed about. This leads a lot of people "settling" to go into teaching. This, unfortunately, is breeding a new group of teachers that don't even want to be teachers, and are just using it as a means to an end: a way to get a paycheck. Not only do these people take valued positions from people who really want to be teachers, but it cause a break down in passionate and lively conversations in the schools among teachers. Some teachers will just lecture the day away not really caring whether it gets through to their students. I think, along with some of the great incentives mentioned in the article, there should be another in-school incentive for teachers. For example, teachers that get together during a free period everyday to talk about educational practices, etc., receive a pay raise. I think it is immensely important to get a conversation going between teachers, old and new, to hear new classroom strategies, what doesn't and what does work, etc. So much can be learned from personal experience, not just books.
I think one hurdle to get through would have to be older, more jaded teachers. Teachers that have no interest in changing their ways. It is important to keep learning and modifying and sometimes teachers who are set in their ways don't feel like reforming. This can also be dangerous for young teachers, to hear all the pessimism from these seasoned veterans. It is important to keep a dialogue going, but one that is beneficial to both parties.
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