Hi Veena,
I love the image of windy spaces in the brain! almost everyone got through university with marks that suggested more understanding than they really had. Part of the reason is that being a student doesn't challenge you to think about the subject the way that teaching it does. Truthfully, the only way to get the deeper understanding you want is to get in there are teach! So let's revisit this issue when you return from October's month of classroom experience.
I'm sure you feel the adjustment much more than the people who finished university a few months ago! Glad that you have noticed that there is a lot of research on teaching itself. Quality if extremely variable, but some of it is exciting reading!
Thanks,
Tom
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The windy spaces in my brain.
Teachers college is reminding me how hard we make students work! How we require them to focus for long periods and struggle through their learning. I have been out of school for about 7 years now, and have come to a place where I admire these students.
I have plenty of physics and math to review.
I know that you have to understand concepts deeply and have much practice in applying them to be an effective teacher, and I feel lacking in this deeper understanding. In university I constantly felt like I was "getting away" with not fully understanding topics yet ending up with reasonable grades. I felt like there was a problem with the structure of the whole thing.
In any case, I'll keep at it and see where it leads.
One thing that I didn't quite understand before starting teachers college was how much research there is into the science of teaching. It seems like there are endless ways to improve as an educator, through research and practice.
I have plenty of physics and math to review.
I know that you have to understand concepts deeply and have much practice in applying them to be an effective teacher, and I feel lacking in this deeper understanding. In university I constantly felt like I was "getting away" with not fully understanding topics yet ending up with reasonable grades. I felt like there was a problem with the structure of the whole thing.
In any case, I'll keep at it and see where it leads.
One thing that I didn't quite understand before starting teachers college was how much research there is into the science of teaching. It seems like there are endless ways to improve as an educator, through research and practice.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Here I am in class, setting up this blog.
I hope to use it to store my reflections on being a student in the Bachelor of Education program at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and chart how my beliefs about teaching change over time, through new experiences and new ways of thinking.
What kind of teacher do I want to be and in what kind of setting? What are my long-term aspirations and how can I make the most of this next year to progress towards them?
What kind of teacher do I want to be and in what kind of setting? What are my long-term aspirations and how can I make the most of this next year to progress towards them?