My philosophy of education is much more encompassing than just teaching high school English classes. I feel it is my responsibility to give students the opportunity to become a thinking, productive adult. I am responsible for caring for my students. They are responsible for the choices they make. Each student comes to my class with baggage and my job is to try to encourage the soul inside. I must move past the bad behaviors and try to find a way to communicate with each student whatever their level is right now.
Each year I attend the Missouri Write to Learn Conference sponsored by the University of Missouri. It is amazing to be surrounded by English teachers who truly want to make a difference in the lives of each student. Having the opportunity to connect with lecturers such as Meenoo Rami has changed my thoughts about professional development. It is exciting to learn how to engage students in authentic learning that has a value for the student now and in their future adult life. Last year was my first year teaching in a one to one school district. It was a bit of a shock to my system. It was a challenge with each student having the World Wide Web at their fingertips. I enjoyed having the opportunity of using such tools as No Red Ink and Kahoot! but the important lesson I learned is technology is just a tool. Tools do not always work and I have to be prepared for any circumstance. I want my students to see life as an opportunity for never ending improvement; the Choong Sil Kwan philosophy. I learned this from Master Robert Hardin during my 20 years of teaching Taekwondo. I do not want them to merely exist, I want them to thrive. My dream is a class in which all students love to read, write and speak our English language but that is unrealistic. So my realistic goal is to expose them to English in a way they can appreciate it and understand how it plays such a vital part in the development of becoming a thinking, productive adult. Being a thinking, productive adult who continues improving is not a part of a standardized test but a vital part of my teaching our next generation within my class.
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I am a little uncomfortable writing my first blog ever. It is interesting the topic my instructor chose for me to discuss is if teachers should or shouldn’t blog. I read three interesting articles that encouraged me to begin blogging. I thought Matt Renwick brought up a good point when he quoted John Belushi, “Why not?” What could possibly go wrong? Then my brain kicked in and I could feel the fear bubbling up. What if I have nothing to say or what if people are mean to me? What if I make a huge fool out of myself? Do I really want to write something that could forever be found on the World Wide Web? There are already so many good blogs out there, why would anyone want to read mine?
So I definitely started with the “against” column in my mind. I then started looking at the “for” column and here is what I came up with. 1. If I expect my students to write in order to become betters writers then shouldn’t I be willing to do the same thing? 2. I steal 99% of my lesson plan ideas from other really great teachers. If I write down what I am doing in my classes then I could possibly receive feedback from some amazing people who could give me even better ideas. 3. If I write down what has worked and what hasn’t worked then I can always have that as a reference for me to look off of. 4. I know when I attend good conferences I come back pumped up to be a better teacher. Blogging may be a way for me to stay pumped up year round. For me what it comes down to is a philosophy I learned while teaching Taekwondo for 20 years, the Choong Sil Kwan philosophy. Grandmaster Robert Hardin uses this philosophy of, “Never ending improvement.” I cannot continue to teach in the exact same manner. I must be willing to try new and different ideas. I am sure that if I am not learning and growing my students won’t be either. However, the real motivator for me is time. My time is precious! I will only have one shot at being Cayley’s mother and I absolutely have to find a balance. I doubt I will be a daily blogger. I believe I see the value in blogging but at the most once a week. Right now I am giving up time I could be spending with her. I hear Cayley and Zach (my husband) laughing right now while I am writing this blog. As of right now, my “for” column is winning. I see the value in processing my thoughts into words, my words into sentences and my sentences into my opinions and beliefs. So blogging falls under the Choong Sil Kwon philosophy for me. I want to be a better teacher, so I guess I will become a blogger. |
AuthorMy name is Lisa and I teach English Language Arts at Forsyth, MO. Archives
May 2017
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