"Wise Teachers Make Learning A Joy"
-Chinese Proverb
-Chinese Proverb
Assignments:
- Read the introduction and through page 11 of the text.
- Please reflect on any ahas or main points.
- Share what you are already doing in your classrooms or daily lives that foster a "Fun-damental" Attitude.
- After going over the Pop Quiz on pages 10 and 11 reflect on your personal results.
Click on comments to add your thoughts, feelings and ideas
3 comments:
After reading the introduction I had to go back and think if I ever had any teachers growing up that were truly funny and had enjoyed being a teacher. While looking back on my favorite teachers while I was a kid I notice that I liked the teachers that no one else enjoyed. I liked my P.E. teacher because she was strict and had very high expectations. She served in the military in her younger years and it showed!!! The other teacher that I think of was in college. The class was called Kiddy Lit and everyone dreaded the class because of the high work load and the professor. I remember the first day of
class ... She read her favorite book: Thank You Mr. Faulker and began to cry while reading it. She was really into her books. I thought this teacher was horrible at first because of all the things I heard about her, but when I saw that she had a sensitive side to her and that she truly cared for her students, I soared. It became my favorite class in college and I also had a great understanding of children's literature. I also had a new favorite book: Thank You Mr. Faulker.
In my line of work, I always have to find a little humor in my job. I currently work one-on-one with a autistic child who is nonverbal. I constantly joke with the other teachers to make my day go a little smoother. After taking the quiz, I noticed that my answers my be varied because this is currently my second week of work and I'm still on cloud nine. I think if I took this a couple months down the line, my results wouldn't be; "Teacher of the Year".
I love this book. I have found that laughter makes the day go by so much faster. One quote from the book, "Although teaching brings with it an unpredictability that makes one year as different as the next, there is one thing that is forever in your hands: your attitude about your students and the learning process." My students know that they can make me laugh even if I am discipling them. It is amazing. I can be so mad one second and laughing the next. That is because they know that I believe in them and really care about them as people. I love that teaching is unpredictable, that's what makes it fun. It is never boring. I always look for the "funny" in the midst of chaos. Our administration does not always support us in difficult situations, so we support each other. We meet in the hall between classes, before, and after school and help each other find the fun in our school and our students. In my classroom I have cartoons and comic strips on bulletin boards, I tell "lame" jokes, and create lesson plans that make the students learn while having fun. The Pop Quiz showed what I already know, I have fun while teaching. I am a new teacher (5th year) and I still LOVE to go to work every day. Sometimes people find that hard to believe, but it's true. I find myself missing the students when they have graduated and find ways to reconnect whenever possible. For instance, I go to the high school events to cheer the students on. When we just went to the high school for the "Explore" test I took my breaks in the hallways and cafeteria so that I could see prior students. They love to see me, but I think I love to see them just as much. It is really an uplifting experience to hear about their successes in school and life.
I find this book very interesting and amusing! I have always liked to laugh and found myself hanging out with the "class clown" types. I can't say I had many "laughing teachers" growing up. I think my first experience with a teacher like that would be in high school. He managed to find humor in all things and looking back, some of my fondest memories of teachers are of him. When I began student teaching, I landed in a 5/6 split classroom. The teacher was hilarious! He had me and the kids laughing all day. I was amazed at how he could goof around all day and still be an effective teacher and maitain the management of the classroom. No students took advantage of his style and they knew when he was stone serious. I took many of his ideas with me and continue to practice a lot of his methods. As a student teacher, I so afraid to get up and teach because next to him, I would be boring! There was such a sense of community and belonging in that classroom and all students felt safe and enjoyed being there. I knew immediately I wanted that type of classroom. When I took the quiz, it made me aware of the areas I need to reflect on. I wondered if I did some of the negative practices the quiz questioned. There is a time and place for sarcasm and we need tobe sure kids understand this type of humor. It has made me think about some things I do right and other areas I could improve on. I do think that kids like to know their teachers personally. When I tell funny stories the kids immediately make connections and want to tell stories of their own. It makes us human and humans do have a sense of humor!
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