April 8, 2009: Reflection Post 1

This is my first reflective paper. As I write this, I am one week into my teacher certification program. I have been assigned to read To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher by William Ayers. Within chapter one, Ayers delineates multiple teaching myths. He points out the myths have permeated film, literature, and our ethos. Not everyone will agree that these are myths. Disagreement reflects the nature with which myths take hold and are accepted as truth without supporting and fact. While I believe all the myths have merit, several connected with me.

Myth one: “Good classroom management is an essential first step toward becoming a good teacher” (p. 11). I have held this belief. I felt good classroom management was needed and would come before becoming a good teacher. An individual holding this belief is likely to focus mainly on management and forgo spending extra time teaching and facilitating learning. But the teacher should recognize the importance teaching holds over management. Ayers’s rational is similar. He posits classroom management doesn’t precede teaching and it is intertwined with the whole of teaching. He continues, saying that management skill comes with experience. He points out working well with students comes with practice.

Myth three: “Good teachers make learning fun” (p. 13). I didn’t drop this belief until after I read Ayers’s rationale. On page 13 he says, “fun is distracting, amusing. Clowns are fun. Jokes can be fun. Learning can be engaging, engrossing, amazing, disorienting, involving, and often deeply pleasurable. If it’s fun, fine. But it doesn’t need to be fun.” It seems one can take the perspective of either the student or the teacher. A student may hold the myth that fun classes are the good classes. Reflecting on my education, the myth clearly is untrue. A teacher may hold the myth that good teachers make learning fun. Like Ayers’s says, that’s fine, but it doesn’t need to be that way. My current view regarding the role of teachers is that they are to facilitate learning. The importance lies with figuring out how best to facilitate learning. Good teachers are able to figure this out.

Myth five: “Good teachers begin with the curriculum they are given and find clever ways to enhance it” (p. 13). I would like to argue that good teachers follow the curriculum, but I can’t. Good teachers are passionate about their curriculums and find inventive and effective ways to administer it. They hold high expectations and bring their students to higher levels. At the end of the year, the students leave better than how they came. This can be done without following a mandated curriculum. Ayers makes an intriguing point, sometimes the teacher may need to begin elsewhere and occasionally touch official curriculum to satisfy administrators.

With emphasis currently on No Child Left Behind, it is conspicuous to argue teachers can be good without following a mandated curriculum. But, as we have discussed recently in class, roles and expectations of schools fluctuate within history. I argue the importance lies in finding what works best to the development of mind and knowledge. It likely lies in the middle of mandated curriculum and testing, and giving teachers freedom to explore and develop their own curriculum.

Myth nine: “Good teaching can be measured by how well students do on tests” (p. 15). Teaching and acquisition of knowledge is not linear. We are expected to view it as such because we have grade ‘levels’ and ‘primary’ as well as ‘secondary’ schools. But these are labels we have given. Imagine for a moment there were no schools, yet a collection of children wanting to learn. I would want to group children by ability, not age. I would want the students to feed off of each other and walk with each other through the process of learning. Age doesn’t matter. Students will achieve success at different times and at different rates. This seems to be a natural consequence of mankind. Properly structured and administered tests can help gauge the level of students, but they shouldn’t be a measure of good teaching. Besides, tests are inaccurate. They should only be meant for guidance and not heavily relied upon. Ayers points out learning builds over time and connections are made suddenly and I argue often unexpectedly.

These myths serve to clarify my thoughts on the purpose of teachers. I may need to revisit the myths throughout my career as I am likely to fall into believing them again. Regardless, I have extrapolated a key idea- good teaching is active, responsive, and passionate. It is active in regards to exciting students about learning. It is responsive in that good teachers find a way to help different learning styles and struggles. Finally, it is passionate in that teachers commit a large amount of time to their work and students while disseminating abstract ideas.

This week another idea has been floating around my head. Children and adolescents are developing physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. The development may complicate the learning process. Specifically, students may face struggles with learning while additionally struggling with those different components of development. Likewise students may face domestic issues. These issues combine to remind teachers that students may be more complicated than they appear.

I prefer to imagine that students come ready to learn. They may, but they may bring backpacks filled with issues. These issues are not to be ignored or face condescending attitude. My hope is that awareness will improve classrooms and help teachers connect with students. I realize I don’t hold the answers for students. However, a well coordinate school of teachers, counselors, and administers should be prepared and able to deal with any student issues. If schools are going to be equipped to handle this, there needs to be a consorted effort of State and Federal policy. Teachers are in a position to deal one-on-one with students daily.