Pedagogy for the 21st Century
Many of us have started teaching already, and most of the rest of us will begin in the next two weeks. If you’ve had the summer off or at least have had a few weeks off between summer school and the fall semester, I hope you’ve had a great break. I didn’t have [...]
This is the fifth habit out of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. If we apply this fifth habit to teaching, we seek first to understand our students. We listen to our students. As Covey has written, we spend most of our education learning how to read, how to write, how [...]
Teachers, what are your thoughts on evaluations? Do they make you nervous?
Most of you will probably say, “it depends.” I’m one of them.
I’m generally in favor of evaluations. As teachers we need feedback on our teaching. Being evaluated is a quicker way to improve teaching. We [...]
How much does seniority come into play among teachers?
Teaching is a somewhat egalitarian profession. Teachers are pretty good about respecting other teachers regardless of how long they’ve been in the system or at the school. We all know how much everyone else makes at the school, so why should there be any hierarchy? [...]
I’ve had students graduate and go on to successful, fulfilling careers, perhaps, in terms of position and monetary compensation, more successful than I.
Nevertheless, their success fuels and reinforces my calling as an educator. When I bump into a former student who’s doing well in life, his or her success only makes me [...]
In discussions with other teachers I’ve found that everyone has a different idea of what student-centered teaching looks like to them. For some teachers it’s having students work on long-term projects together. For other teachers student-centered teaching involves students teaching lessons in class.
For me student-centered teaching has to do with democracy and constructive [...]
Have you ever noticed a link between diet and teaching performance? I sure have.
In the fall of 2004, my student teaching semester was so harried that I didn’t make time to pack a lunch for myself. I opted for cafeteria food, with obligatory fries, for convenient sustenance. As a result, by the end of student [...]
