What+I+believe+about+education

**What I believe to be true about education, teaching and learners:**

 * There needs to be humor in the classroom, and a celebration of learning. Both teacher and students gain immensely from laughter. **


 * A good teacher truly cares about her students, noting their individual differences and strengths, and shares a vision for their success. **


 * Teaching is about hard work and commitment; devoting hours to knowing and keeping up with one’s content in order to teach it to the best of one’s ability. **

** It is important for teachers to have clear expectations and procedures, good management, and especially an 'opening' of class (i.e. Flag Salute, quote or riddle of the day.) **

** A thoughtful and creative teacher will plan activities to reach the needs of diverse learners, such as auditory, visual and kinesthetic modes. **

** The classroom should be a bright, cheerful place, which is safe, and yet, inviting to all kinds of learners. It has a positive atmosphere that welcomes student input and interaction. **


 * A teacher’s job is more than just motivating students to learn; it is guiding, encouraging, and supporting students in discovering what they can do, and how they can improve. **


 * Students should practice solving problems (not just mathematical ones) and use higher level critical thinking, frequently. **


 * It takes teamwork and collaboration of many individuals in an educational setting. This includes sharing of ideas between teachers/colleagues, as well as groups of students, and mentoring when needed. Listening, discussing, giving feedback, reflecting, and being open to new or different ideas are healthy behaviors. **

** Students should write frequently...at least once a week. (This could be in a personal journal or assigned.) **

**Teachers can assign shorter writings more frequently (a paragraph or two****, in reflection or summary, is great.)**

**Students should be given time for individual, quiet reading of their choice, during the school day.**

**Students benefit from discussion; sharing ideas before and after writing.**

**Students will learn more about language through writing than they will through isola ted practice on the parts of speech or diagramming.**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Teachers can help students learn to clearly express their ideas, in both speech and writing,by giving many opportunities to practice communication skills.**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Although this is a past, traditional strategy, dictating a descriptive paragraph, and having the students write it exactly, reinforces listening, spelling, and other writing conventions.**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**In today's world of technology, students must have adequate keyboarding skills; however, they need to know how to read and write in cursive, as well.**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">Instructional materials, use of technology, lessons, delivery of instruction, activities, and assessments should be planned carefully to address the needs of all learners. **

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Encourage the use of a thesaurus for more descriptive and effective words in writing.**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Encourage using sensory images in descriptive writing, and figurative language such as metaphors and similes.**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Short spelling drills on survival words and commonly misspelled words (//like Wednesday and tomorrow//) should be held semi-weekly.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Students need frequent (at least once a week) experiences in group work where they learn the social skills of cooperating together.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**An important goal in teaching literature is to develop in all students a desire to read in their leisure time,also.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Teachers should motivate students to learn a new word everyday, and involve students in all kinds of vocabulary building activities and strategies.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Words are fun! Give lots of opportunities for wordplay, word puzzles, etymology of words and word part meanings. Students will learn to appreciate puns, riddles, and create their own.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Teachers should strive to learn the interests of each student, and know the reading levels of each student, and to be able to recommend literature selections and authors for them.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**If difficult texts or classics are to be required class-reading, simplified versions, or other reading strategies should be made available for struggling readers.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">**Pre-tests, post-tests and performance-based learning are necessary in assessing students.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Students need to be taught to "read" information from charts, graphs, pictures, tables and maps, and ask/answer questions about each.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**It is beneficial to give students exercises and activities in following written and oral directions. This is a necessary, 'real life' skill especially when following technical directions when fixing something, putting something together, or making a product.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Students must be taught how to correct errors in their writing, being careful to proofread the entire piece before turning it in.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Students need to be given practice in the skill of selecting the main ideas, and paraphrasing key points and details in their own words.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Teachers can guide students in becoming good writers, starting with a strong foundation in solid paragraph writing (topic sentence/main idea, supporting and detailed sentences), and building up to a structured essay (Introductory paragraph with thesis; body paragraphs; Concluding paragraph; and transitional sentences.)**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Students should read a variety of genres and authors, and have experiences in dramatic and oral reading to improve their fluency and expression.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Teachers should read aloud to their students whenever possible, especially to enhance content, or model a type of literature, or purely for students' enjoyment and the art of listening.**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt;">Effective teachers continuously seek out ways to make educational experiences meaningful to the learner, useful, and memorable. **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 20px;">**Students should understand how to use a Table of Contents, Index, guide words in a dictionary, look up information in an encyclopedia, access information from a telephone book, address an envelope, and write a simple letter or 'thank you' note correctly.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 20px;">**It is idealistic (though noble) for a teacher to think she is going to 'save them all.' Realistically, if a teacher has made a difference or an impact in the life of one child, then he or she has been successful.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 20px;">**I believe something is wrong if middle school students are passed on to high school without the skills to independently read and comprehend an approximate grade-level passage, and write a fairly organized and sensible 3 paragraph essay.**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 20px;">**I believe there are some outcomes or grade level expectations that are a 'must' for students, (such as knowing the continents of the world; the names and locations of the states in the USA; being able to count change; tell time; speak and listen politely with common courtesies; read and write; know your times tables facts; add, subtract, multiply, and divide, etc.) How important are these skills in terms of the educational system holding students/teachers/parents accountable that they are mastered, before advancing?**