TakingITGlobal - Panorama - Why I Want to Teach

Published on: Aug 18, 2003

Topic:

Type: Opinions

https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=1755

PRIMARY TEACHING has always been my career of choice for as long as I can remember. I always wanted to play "school" at any available opportunity and would setup my blackboard with work to be completed and would use stuffed toys and friends when available as my students. I would make a list of random names and pretend to call the roll. I was doing what I considered to be teacher's work.

However as I progressed through my schooling I began to take more notice of the characteristics that I believed resembled good teaching.

BAD TEACHERS would arrive late to class. Bad teachers spend the first five minutes of the class working out who we were, what we were up to and what we would be doing.

Bad teachers never knew anybody by name and considering teaching to be writing notes on to the board and having us copy them, completing worksheets. Bad teachers would sit at the front of the room and drink coffee or read the paper and would make everybody work in silence.

Bad Teachers would complain about the fact that they had had no release time that day and that they never got paid enough. At the end of the day, you would never find a bad teacher in the staffroom; because they had already left to go home !

And at the end of the term, bad teachers would photocopy a class set of reports and simply add student names to the top.

GOOD TEACHERS used student’s names and knew something personal or special about the student they taught. Good teachers would use videos, computers, guest speakers, excursions and games to make what would otherwise be a very boring subject into something that was remotely interesting. Good teachers would also find ways to explain things in different ways so that it would make sense to everybody and would be link it to everyday life in the real world. Good teachers classrooms would be bubbling away with “productive noise” and would create fantastic displays of student work and include something from everybody.

Good Teachers would have students come up to them outside of class time to talk them about anything; something they were working on in class, what they did on the weekend or even to tell a joke.

Students would talk about good teachers and the assignments they would be working on for them and how much effort everyone had put into working on them.

Good Teachers were always involved in running or supervising extra curricular activities.

Good Teachers would write personal notes on end-of-term reports and would organise a special end of term party or excursion.

I want to be the Good Teacher. I want to be slightly crazy and different. I want a bright, decorated classroom that is an exciting and challenging place for students to learn skills and knowledge relevant to them to survive in the real world, yet also be a place where they feel safe and supported by me and by their peers.

I want students that I taught years ago to come back and visit me or come up to me on the street and tell them what they are doing now and how they remember things that we did together in class.

I want to make a difference in a child’s life. I want to make a difference to the future of the world. I want to teach.

« return.



by Scott Duncan
Published on: Aug 18, 2003
Topic:
Type: Opinions
https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=1755


PRIMARY TEACHING has always been my career of choice for as long as I can remember. I always wanted to play "school" at any available opportunity and would setup my blackboard with work to be completed and would use stuffed toys and friends when available as my students. I would make a list of random names and pretend to call the roll. I was doing what I considered to be teacher's work. However as I progressed through my schooling I began to take more notice of the characteristics that I believed resembled good teaching. BAD TEACHERS would arrive late to class. Bad teachers spend the first five minutes of the class working out who we were, what we were up to and what we would be doing. Bad teachers never knew anybody by name and considering teaching to be writing notes on to the board and having us copy them, completing worksheets. Bad teachers would sit at the front of the room and drink coffee or read the paper and would make everybody work in silence. Bad Teachers would complain about the fact that they had had no release time that day and that they never got paid enough. At the end of the day, you would never find a bad teacher in the staffroom; because they had already left to go home ! And at the end of the term, bad teachers would photocopy a class set of reports and simply add student names to the top. GOOD TEACHERS used student’s names and knew something personal or special about the student they taught. Good teachers would use videos, computers, guest speakers, excursions and games to make what would otherwise be a very boring subject into something that was remotely interesting. Good teachers would also find ways to explain things in different ways so that it would make sense to everybody and would be link it to everyday life in the real world. Good teachers classrooms would be bubbling away with “productive noise” and would create fantastic displays of student work and include something from everybody. Good Teachers would have students come up to them outside of class time to talk them about anything; something they were working on in class, what they did on the weekend or even to tell a joke. Students would talk about good teachers and the assignments they would be working on for them and how much effort everyone had put into working on them. Good Teachers were always involved in running or supervising extra curricular activities. Good Teachers would write personal notes on end-of-term reports and would organise a special end of term party or excursion. I want to be the Good Teacher. I want to be slightly crazy and different. I want a bright, decorated classroom that is an exciting and challenging place for students to learn skills and knowledge relevant to them to survive in the real world, yet also be a place where they feel safe and supported by me and by their peers. I want students that I taught years ago to come back and visit me or come up to me on the street and tell them what they are doing now and how they remember things that we did together in class. I want to make a difference in a child’s life. I want to make a difference to the future of the world. I want to teach. « return.