I want to be the kind of teacher students feel they can come
to when they have a problem, but also one they know will send them out for
doing something wrong. I want to be kind but strict.
I want to be knowledgeable about my subject and be able to
answer questions on the spot but I also don’t want to be that teacher who
always says “No, that answer is wrong, tell me another.” I know there are
always more than 1 right answer and if I feel their answer is wrong, it won’t
help them if I just say no. I should ask them how they got to that answer and
work with them to find any errors.
I want to be energetic and interactive and make sure the
whole class is able to work as a team towards a common goal. I also don’t want
to focus on group work as a main source of learning. Studies have shown, and I
believe, that not everyone works better in groups and sometimes the most
creative ideas come when we work alone[1]. I
want to let students be creative together, but not stifle individual
creativity.
I want to accept who students are; their beliefs, their
gender, their sexual orientation, their race, and let them be whoever they want
to be, and teach all my students to be just as accepting.
But teachers don’t go into the classroom saying I’m going to
be mean but let the students walk all over me. They don’t say ‘I don’t need to
know about my topic but I’m going to make sure those students know my answer is
the only one that is right.’ I’ve never met a teacher who said they were going
to go into the classroom and be lazy, teach from the text book and stifle
creativity and no teacher would ever go into a classroom planning to discriminate.
I think the curriculum is sound, and most teachers pedagogy is good, but it is
in practice where most teachers find out whether they have what it takes to be
a good teacher, or a bad teacher. I hope that my drive, determination and
passion will help me in the classroom and that I will become a good teacher.
[1] Cain, S.
(2012) The Rise of the New Groupthink. Retrieved on the 19th of
February, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/the-rise-of-the-new-groupthink.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me