Saturday, February 28, 2009

Writer's BLOK

I'm stuck. I need to write about why I'm a good teacher and I can't seem to to be able to put it into words. I'm a good teacher. I konw this...but how to put it into words....I love people. I care about my students. I do my very best to BE the kind of teacher I want them to BE...so often I think we rely on CONTENT to teach students how to become teachers, rather than PROCESS. Students need to experience learning and teaching. They need to see me leading them through these processes so that they can do this too. I know that life happens. I don't need to hold rules over students' heads to try to get them to be "good" students. They get sick, they stay up late caring for a distraught roomate, they make a poor choice once and awhile. What good does it do for me to reduce their grade for living their lives, often in meaningful ways. Yes, all of our choices have results, but grades are not indicative of a student's learning...just as point reductions don't help a student learn anything about being a good teacher, but about following rules. I wish I had more words, or more ways to explain why I'm a good teacher...