January 12th, 2011

Today we learned about many different aspects of effective teaching.  I found a few particularly interesting.

• Effective teaching involves social and ethical matters.
• Not only is the teacher responsible for presenting the curriculum in an understandable way, but they are partially responsible for teaching and encouraging them how to behave socially.  
• The teacher also lays down the moral law in the classroom.  At the beginning of the school year, it is made known to the children what is unacceptable under that teachers authority. 
• Those things are so important for children to learn at early ages
• Effective teaching involves multicultural students.
• When I worked at a summer camp, I was the leader of a few children from foster homes.  I would consider this a multicultural difference.  I tried several different tactics to attempt to convey my desires to these campers, and I couldn't understand why they didn't work.  I discovered that they were from foster homes, and I had to alter my methods to accommodate them.
• Children from other countries would be challenging to teach, especially if they were raised for some time in another culture.  Those children would have a hard time trying to adjust to new teaching methods, a new language and a new culture all at once.  This would require exceptional sensitivity and grace from the teacher.
• Effective teaching depends on subject matter competence.
• In my past, I have attempted to write essays after doing almost no research.  Essentially, your objective is to teach someone that doesn't know anything about your essay topic.  I remember staying up into the wee hours of the morning and painfully trying to wrench an unwilling essay out of the depths of my mind.    I would imagine that teaching a class about something you don't know would be something like that.  You are standing before a gaggle of students, all of whom have different styles of learning, and you have to convey to them a certain concept.  If you have only one way of explaining this concept, or know nothing about the concept, then you probably won't be prepared for the students questions.  Referring back to Blooms taxonomy, you need to be at the level of at least understanding, but ideally the level of analyzing.  If you know the reasons why and can see past the surface of the concept to the "moving parts", you will be able to convey the concept to your students in more effective ways.
• Effective teaching is dependent upon commitment.
• In grade 5, I remember one teacher in particular who didn't care whether certain students did well or not.  There was a young man in our class who came from a rough home who didn't accomplish his homework one day.  She had him write a letter explaining why he didn't finish his coloring assignment.  He had apparently struggled with writing because he wrote that he "forgot his colors".  I know what he wrote because she laughed as she read it, and then read it aloud to the whole class.  This teacher had no concern for the boys success, otherwise she wouldn't have embarrassed him so.  She should have been more sensitive and gracious, and most certainly wouldn't treat him the way she did.  The boy was mocked and teased by certain other children, and that is entirely the fault of that teacher.  She was not committed to his social or academic success.