Hi Jean:
We are all hired because we possess some valuable and needed experience, talent, and/or ability. We should do our best to convey that to each student. And achieving that with each student can be the biggest challenge.
Regards, Barry
Hi Mazzy:
Hopefully students have goals. As teachers, our goal is to asuure the appropriate transfer of information occurs according to the student learning outcomes as facilitated by the the daily unit objectives.
Regards, Barry
I am Chef instructor and it is very important to perpetue the same technique from past generations.
Hi Summer:
The future lies with the next generation. We must entrust our students with the best we have so that they can take it farther down the road - leapfrogging improvement after improvement. Soon, it will their turn to do the same. And on and on.
Regards, Barry
Ultimately it is to help them acheieve goals that they have set for themselves. I feel that it is our responsibility to assist students not only in learning the material in class but also help them realize their full potentials as future professionals.
Hi Gregory:
There may a little bit of semantics at play here, but I get your point, and it's an accurate description of how a teacher can approach their class and instructional style. Getting students to think really takes work and diligence by all concerned. Creating that environment for learning is a worthy task for instructors to strive for.
Regards, Barry
You are absolutely right. By educating future generations we are helping them have an easier time in the future. Why make them re-invent the wheel? If we can pass on some of our knowledge, and why not, our mistakes, we can in the end ensure that when it is time for us to turn over the world to them they will be able to know what to do.
Barry,
The first step is to realize the difference between training and educating. Training is "how" you do something while educating is "why" you do something. Using this approach, we may train a student on a theorem or specific tactic to use in a situation. The educating part comes when the student is able to break down "why" he/she used a particular approach to a given problem.
In short, the goal of educating students is to allow them the cognitive latitude to employ a particular approach to a given situation. Why this approach is used is based on the students relative awareness (learning) of the situation.
The goal is to educate the student in a manor so they can transfer the information or learned techniques to their choosen career settings and be comfortable with that knowledge they have learned through hands on experience and repetetion.
Hi Gregg:
Great! A lot of adjectives similarly describe our role. Mentor, facilitator, coach, trainer, advisor, counselor, guide, least among them, teacher and helper. Good teachers do all they can to assure their students learn the needed material. Lesser teachers are just there to instruct, whether the student leans or not. Sad.
Regards, Barry
Hi Kevin:
Great! These students are our future. We should try to impart all we know so they can take it even further. Progress cannot occur unless we give all we have.
Regards, Barry
Hi Dixie:
You have admirable goals. I believe they're obtainable. When a teacher sincerely cares, is trusting and honest, is approachable and willing to spend needed time with their students, not threatened by students (questions or challenges to a teaching point), is self assured and well prepared in their subject matter - these and many similar traits are going to lead to a learning environment where students will be interested and attentive, and likey achieve improved learning outcomes.
Good teachers can inspire and motivate. The beginning of that is to be natural and open with students as individuals. Students sense "this is someone who can and wants to help me".
Regards, Barry
Hi Dixie:
Yeah, I've expereinced that too. I think it's like a truth or principle: there are many ways to define it or slice it, but the root of the principle will always hold true. So, as this example, in the past when I've covered what I thought was all of the needed information, I was inspired to add information that was new. Some of that information became incorporated into subsequent classes.
Regards, Barry
Hi Dixie:
That is a great axiom. To me it just underscores the responsibility teachers have to effectively transfer their knowledge to their students.
Regards, Barry
The goal of educating students is like a tour guide...or rock climbing guide. You have already succeeded where the students have yet to approach. Helping them to develop the skills needed to traverse that course...to spot the hidden hand hold, or niche for the foot to help them to climb ever higher. Reinforcing their growth through feedback (constructive and/or positive)is always desireable. It should not be confused with telling them where the niche or hand hold is, but getting them to the point where they will have the skills needed to go up other rock walls that you may not have yet tried.
I think the ultimate goal in educating students is to see them reach career heights that have surpassed our own.
I have a new (our first) grandbaby, six and a half months old. I'm thoroughly entertained by her delight in the world she's discovering, every tiny bit of it, and the glee with which she celebrates each new accomplishment.
Yes, I want my students to absorb the information, acquire the skills, and become sensitized to their audience's need for adaptations. I want them to gain what they need to reach their personal goals. But in the last few weeks, I'm more and more wondering how I can help rekindle that joy in daily, even moment by moment, life and learning.
You know, your spin can spin back, too. Sometimes as I see how the student receives the transfer, I perceive something new about what I thought I was imparting--and the learning spins back to me!
I like that "train for certainty and educate for uncertainty." That's definitely applicable for English, too!
Hi Chris:
Therory or practical - almost the same purpose: WE need to be able to transfer what we have as teachers and find a way to pass that along to students. When this works, they take what we give, use the knowledge, then take it further.
Regards, Barry
