BELIEFS ABOUT TEACHING

Beliefs about Teaching

Beliefs about Teaching

Introduction

I come to education later in life and with a passion. I did not expect that I would have a second career. I volunteered last year in my daughter's kindergarten class for a few hours a week to be generous to the community. Quickly, I discovered that I was the one receiving the gift. The children were extraordinary; exciting, challenging, and loving. Her teachers and the other teachers I met at her school were extraordinary as well. Their caring, professionalism, and openheartedness moved and inspired me.

Reasons for Wanting to Become a Teacher

Effective teaching must include the passion, touch, flavor, and personality, in order to draw the students in and engage them. The more students are engaged the more positive the results.Teaching must promote six basic attributes, the 'KSA's' and the 'Three Ts of Teaching'. Teaching is the Knowledge of the basics that are passed on, the concepts to give the students the Skills of 'effective and affective' learning, and the Attributes to be able to put the Thinking skills, Technology skills, and Teamwork skills into action. As I began to read about children and education, a new world opened. Teaching involves not only the 'conscious curriculum' based ideas but the intangible side as well. Teaching is therefore an Art Form and a Calling, a noble profession involving a passion for learning and a passion for children as students. In order for teaching to be productive and successful, this passion for learning must be promoted as lifelong learning. I understood that I had the opportunity to make at least a few children's educational experiences more nurturing and productive than my own had been. The brilliant body of work I was reading was ripe with opportunities to improve the outcomes and experiences of students today. In not much time, it became clear to me that the second half of my life would be about children and their education.

Personal Characteristics That Will Make Me an Effective Teacher

I have been a teacher all my life in various ways. I have a love of learning. Sharing that learning is part of the fun. I never imagined that I would, but I love the students. I love their innocence and their simple joys and their fresh eyes as they look at the world. I love the challenge of communicating ideas and skills. I love the idea of leading a team of learners toward a goal of demonstrated mastery. I love the idea of giving these children a set of skills and an outlook that will hold them, solid, brave, and capable, as they move through the balance of their academic career and through life.

I have no doubt that I can be effective. I succeeded in the competitive world of Wall Street with a fraction of the passion, enthusiasm, and dedication I bring to this work. By the end of 18 months of academic training, I will have the knowledge to be effective. I have been in the classroom since the fall ...