05/02/19, W02 'Is the Great American Teacher Dead?'

I loved this article. Although it was deep, it was very enlightening. As I read the article I reflected on the subtitle, ‘Principles to Resurrect Meaningful, Effective, and Consciousness Raising Instruction’, and realized that this means many teachers must be delivering ‘boring, and uninspiring content.’ One of the key points mentioned is the need to make the lesson delivery powerful. I like the analogy in the article that public speaking and teaching are cousins. I have thought a lot about my many classroom teachers over the years. I concluded that my best teachers had a passion for their subject matter, and that love spilled over to their desire that their students did well and learned the material.

I found the outside views of the American education very interesting. I would agree that there probably are many teachers who are uninspiring and are just teaching because it’s a job. I can’t help but think that they may be burned out, or they are stuck in the old-school way of teaching, or their personal lives negatively impact their teaching. However, with the advances in technology, they can remedy at least the problem of teaching the old boring school way out of textbooks and having students memorize dialogues. The use of technology can help teachers give more interesting and exciting lessons. Teachers can also apply the lesson material to real life, so that the students can answer the question ‘what does this mean to me?’ It’s so much easier to learn and retain knowledge when that knowledge can be applied to your individual life.

Another thought I had reading this article was the importance of the teacher getting to know and care for her students. When a student feels interest from the teacher in him as a person, he is much more likely to be interested in the material and therefore perform better in class. Teachers need to build their students and show them respect by remembering that students also have many other obligations. I agree that teachers need to take care of their students so that they can succeed in life.

It’s also important for the students to be taught about the world around them as in, how do others view and feel about subjects, and what are their life experiences? This helps us all look outside ourselves and hopefully to be more accepting and understanding of and compassionate toward others. In summary, I agree with Bro. Ivers that great teaching is ‘a science,’ and ‘an art form.’