What does a teacher do? Simple answer, right?

Before last weeks class I felt pretty confident that I knew the answer to that question! I never really put much thought into the actual definition of the word "Teacher." I guess I could say I thought a teacher was a schooled individual with a knack for getting through to kids, who was held responsible for teaching their students necessary information. I very much agree with the new definition we learned in class, and even had a hard time typing my previous idea of teaching. A good teacher will create situations for students to learn individually - makes perfect sense, but it never occurred to me before. Also, that the job of the teacher is to give the knowledge and skills and to develop the student's attitude... It is the teacher's job to make all of their knowledge and skills available for their students, but it's the student's attitude that determines whether or not they will take the time to make use of what has been provided for them. I was really surprised by how much sense this immediately made with me, and that it had never occurred to me before!
I also really enjoyed learning about micro-teaching, and watching a classmate take the plunge and go first! She did a really nice job, and provided an excellent example for us all to follow. It really got my brain running on different attention grabbers and ways to teach to different styles of learners.
Lastly, I found it really interesting to look at the outside forces that influence the student and teacher - and how many of those forces were the same for both sides. I think most people may put the student and the teacher on totally different playing fields, but they aren't really all that different. Both come to school every day influenced by family, the economy, friends, religion, society, culture and more. Maybe if we could all remember to understand that on a daily basis, the classroom might a more positive place...
Until next time! :)