Oh, I See!

What a blessing it is to be a teacher. I always find the word teacher so fascinating, though, because I feel that true teaching is providing students the opportunity to discover and learn for themselves, given the materials they need to do so properly. We should be called Providers of Learning. For example, today's lesson on comparing visualizations, I simply provided learning through appropriate questions, visualizations, and a van diagram that would help them and assist them in writing their own paragraphs. Although it may sound a lot simpler of a teaching method, it is quite the opposite. It requires a lot more preparation and a lot more trust in your students and yourself. But I am beginning to trust the students and how bright they are more and more. I am beginning to trust myself as well. I am still working on being more simple and clear when explaining directions, having a quicker Activity Orientation, as well as making sure I ask clarifying questions to make sure students' thinking is where it needs to be. But as we continue to practice and have our hearts and eyes open to improvement, we can definitley become the best we can be.