Chapter 7 Thinking about Teaching and Learning

Chapter 7 was full of insightful philosophies of teacher from the past and present. A few of these points I found really applied to me and the way I hope to teach.
On Page 273 the text discusses Opinions, Values, and Beliefs. The quote “Change is endemic to education…..It is difficult to let go of no longer useful ideas” really made me think about what I will be teaching in the class room. I know that I will need to learn how to change what I teach as times change. Whether that means changing the standard material very quickly for the next class (after noticing something that was not working right); or changing the material over the year as a standard changes. I think it may be difficult learning how to do this after becoming really good a teaching a certain way, but I feel it will be necessary.

I also felt that Confucius’s quote “if you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of 10 years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach people.” will help me as a teacher. I believe it takes all three of these “rules” to truly teach. There will be times where I will be thinking about certain things that I want to teach or accomplish with the students in one year, a certain standard for example. There will be other things that I will be thinking and teaching about for ten years, like figuring out and teaching my students to analyze the text. I would be repeating this concept each year until something would cause me to change the way I think and teach that topic. And of course, as a teacher I should always be think about teaching in terms of 100 years, in order to provide bright minds in the next generations.

A third important thought chapter 7 addresses which I found interesting and beneficial as a teacher, is being able to use all types of learning styles not just the one that you (as a teacher) learn best by. I am a visual learner. I like to see examples of things and not just hear them. I know that I will need to adapt and learn to use all of the learn types. I may have oral presentations I need to listen to. I will need to focus and be able to listen to them and not “fade away” I also get distracted easily by small noises like someone tapping a pencil on a desk. This annoys me but it may help that person learn.

I like how this chapter got me to stop, and think about a few small things that I hope to adjust when I being and continue to teach. These things would do well to go into my philosophy paper.