First and foremost, I would like to wish all of my friends, their families and everyone on this site a happy new year filled with all of God's blessings your way. I have been away for a while, trying to get my house in order. I have been observing the events of the past and have decided to be more vocal concerning the things I am most passionate about.
I want to talk to all those responsible for educating our children, parents, teachers, neighbors, ministers, police officers, etc. Maybe it would just be easier to say everyone. As a first year teacher, I was asked by my principal to participate as a panelist in a discussion held during the first staff development session of the year. I was quite flattered and immediately accepted.
During our part of the training, a veteran teacher asked, 'What do you do when you have a student that just can't seem to get it no matter what you try? Each person on the panel grew silent, so I asked, 'What subject do you teach?' This veteran teacher stated that they taught math. My next question drew quite a number of strange looks at me before they turned towards the teacher. My question was, 'How many different ways can you multiply two numbers?' She sat there for a moment, laughed, and said, 'I know the way everybody else does, you know, with the place holders.' I looked at her while she was laughing and said, 'Well, that could be your problem right there. By knowing only "the way everybody else does" you have already limited your students because they have no options. They rely on what you know. You have already decided for them how they are going to learn this process, whether they get it or not. If they don't get it, it's the students' fault, not yours. Education is about broadening the mind, making choices, asking questions and seeking the answers for yourself. It isn't the ability to spit out useless facts on command, but being able to do something with them.'
As I spoke, I looked around the room at the faces of everyone. I could see many of them nodding in approval, so I continued. 'We are the professionals. We have all graduated from fine schools. The one thing that I learned from my college experience is that there are a lot of things out there to learn and that the more I learn, the less I know. Learning is lifelong and as educators we should be the models of that process. The more we broaden our own minds, the greater the chance of broadening our students' minds.'
This veteran teacher, now a little red-faced, said, 'That's all well and good in theory, but how do you do it? After you answer that, I would like to ask you the same two questions that you asked me, what subject do YOU teach and how many ways can you multiply two numbers?'
I paused for a moment because I could see the administrators begin to laugh. I realized that they were laughing because they already knew the answer to part of her question. 'I beg to differ with you because it isn't theory and can be put into practice at any time. The more choices we give our students, the greater the likelihood of success. Now to answer my own question, I teach mathematics and can multiply two numbers several different ways.'
She looked at me in disbelief and asked me to show her, so I asked the panelists if they would mind, they didn't because I think they wanted to see it also. After I finished, I heard her say, 'I didn't know that there were that many.' I looked at her, softening my voice to emphasize my point, and said, 'I am a first year teacher, you are a veteran teacher. If I knew them, why didn't you?'
With that, the panel discussion was ended. The administrators thanked the panelists and said that the discussion covered a wide array of concerns and that there was much for us to think about and discuss. Before I could leave, several members of the panel as well as teachers in the audience actually asked me to explain some of the different methods to them.
Later, in our first department meeting, I was surprised to hear the very same teacher ask the department chair if he would let me teach the rest of the department the same methods. I made a friend and supporter that day.
We are educators. It is our responsibility to provide our students with the greatest opportunities for success be being as prepared as humanly possible. There are always other ways of knowing and doing anything. The textbook is not a bible, it is a tool. There are many tools for the same job. Don't be afraid to ask for help because we all need it from time to time. Don't look at it as a failure, but rather, an opportunity to learn something new that day. We should want for our students the same thing our teachers wanted for us, not to be as good as they were, but better.
Posted By: George Milliken
Friday, January 30th 2009 at 11:21PM
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