Teacher, Know Thyself (and Thy Students)

         My Take-away from Courage to Teach by Parker J. Palmer

         After reading The Courage to Teach, I noted a few things I would  like to remember and implement in my own classroom. First, I would like to get to know myself better as a teacher and teach from my own strengths and abilities. I want to consider each strategy and technique in my toolbox--not excluding new ideas--as to whether they fit me and my current classroom. How refreshing to realize that what worked for one teacher may not work for me (and vice-versa).

         I want to remember that I am not the only one afraid in my classroom. The misbehaving student isn't always doing so to annoy me or sidetrack my lesson plans. Sometimes misbehaving students are afraid, too. I need to look beyond behaviors to what is motivating my students while not losing focus on the subject we are studying.

         Concerning the subject at hand, I want to help my students experience and practice each subject as it would be used in their lives. I liked Palmer's idea of the microcosm in teaching, particularly his example of the medical students who learned medicine by developing (guided) treatments for truly ill patients. While not losing sight of the ease of memory in younger students (and helping them make the most of it with a factual reference to draw from), I want to teach them the usefulness of their subjects so that (hopefully) they will want to ferret out new learning on their own.

         How do I do all of these things? That is another question. Writing my goals and ways to break them down has helped me work toward other areas that I value. Perhaps some journalling will help this summer in considering how to implement these before I add them to my formal time management system.