As the title states we have entered an era where our teaching lives are now dominated by a “crammed” curriculum. And I truly believe it is time to try something new. But before we explore this we need to ask some important questions first. What is a crammed curriculum exactly? why is it crammed? and more importantly, how do we “uncram” it? So…in finding out the answer to the “what” is a complex issue. Firstly we need to understand that…..
The concept of a teacher “shortage” seems to flowing through the mainstream media at the moment. The only thing is that there is no teacher shortage and never has been. There are at any point in time plenty of teachers floating around and an ample number of teaching graduates entering the realms of education.However, a greater number of these people either do not want enter teaching or even stay in teaching.The big question then is….why? Why would someone not want…..
As a teacher it has always intrigued me on how much emphasis our society places on academic achievement for one to be “successful” in learning and in life. As a preschool teacher for many years, I “graded” my students on how well they interacted with others in a variety of social situations as opposed to how well they displayed their general intellect for facts and figures. I always felt my students were “successful” when they had mastered these simple yet…..
As a teacher I’ve had a very unique view of the world throughout the covid pandemic. By seeing things through the eyes of our children. This has made me realise what the real pandemic in our society is. It certainly isn’t a communicable disease but rather a condition which costs us much more in time, money and resources than we could ever imagine.Forget about the “covid” pandemic. This is the “lack of confidence” pandemic. This pandemic has been around long…..
To be a Legendary Teacher one needs to develop a good sense of themselves as to why they actually want to be a teacher in the first place or to want to even stay in teaching. This being that the pressures of modern teaching as much as they are often stressful and at times very strange, they are still workable.This is where the right mindset comes into play. To develop this mindset one really needs to believe that there is…..
As a teacher I cannot stress enough the value of following your dreams within your educational journey. Believe in yourself and your abilities to make a positive impact in the lives of your students and thus the world in general. When I preach this (or even touch on it) I sometimes find that my listeners (mainly other teachers) are interested yet not really that inspired. This is all part of the challenge of having faith that what you do day…..
As a teacher I have faced many tests and trials on my teaching journey. Sometimes these experiences have been brief and at other times they have taken quite a while to overcome. But I choose to view these events and experiences as merely challenges to help me get stronger. This I feel is the key to a long and extremely fulfilling life for me as a teacher. And the same can be for you too. Another key aspect of long…..
The notion of the “inner child” became very popular back in the 1990’s where individuals would look within and try discover or at least re-discover who they really were. Part of this was a healing process for a wounded self left behind from childhood when one grows up and becomes an adult. This could also include a process of forgiveness for oneself and also forgiveness for one’s parents for any indiscretions that occurred during their childhood. It became a bit…..
One the biggest challenges that I have faced as a teacher is working within the educational system. As a teacher I was aware that my role was very important to my students yet in the bigger scheme of things I was a small fish in a very big pond. This being that my opinion on all things teaching was not highly regarded by the hierarchy above me. And not that they didn’t care for my opinion but rather that as…..
It’s interesting how education as I see it has really lost it’s ability to allow children to play. I began my teaching life as a preschool teacher in a day care centre. I followed a play based program and it added a huge amount of educational value to the lives of the children that I taught there. Then I moved into a primary (elementary) school based preschool. Again it was a play based program and again the children that were…..