The Heart of a Teacher
Teachers of the 21st century are under attack. The caring and heartfelt students spend their time, and efforts hoping they can make a difference in a child’s life, and in the world. Their energy and enthusiasm knows no boundaries as the embrace the art of learning
The problem lies in so much methodology and not enough basics on how to teach the most important subject of all reading. A recent study concluded that only 60% of the teachers knew what phonemes are. It’s not so much the teachers fault as the university that produces teachers without the tools to teach reading properly.
We can all attest to teachers we’ve had that stood out from the others : that taught in a way that we could understand .We can attest to their greatness because of how they could keep your attention, and how they made the subject interesting. Your brain lit up with interesting facts that made sense.
The teacher instructed you the sounds of the words and how to break apart a word into a syllable. She may of explained about the prefixes, and suffixes in the words. Your teacher would teach you the rules of learning how to read and they sounds : words weren’t words to be memorized, but the text had meaning and direction. Your teacher would draw images in your mind so you could visualize what concepts were being taught.
The powerful words that are written by the greatest authors of our day bring substance to our lives. Your teacher would read you stories that only added to what if .Being able to comprehend what we read is the essence of what reading is all about. In today’s society 60% of nation’s fourth grades are reading below grade level.
This generation is missing out on a wealth of knowledge that great men and women before us wrote engaging us in their insight. President Lincoln had to formal education but was one of the greatest Presidents we’ve ever had. He learned how to read at a young age and he never quenched his thirst for learning. Being able to read made him a remarkable man with great insight and intellect.
Teachers are wonderful caring professionals who have a heart for children. Many of them are disillusioned with the tedious tests and boring lessons they must teach. The students have quizzical looks on their faces not quite figuring out what all this rhetoric means.
Teachers are passionate, caring individuals who give their heart to their students’ everyday. They are hoping to give what their teachers gave them when they were young. In closing, I have seen sadness in the teacher’s eyes where they hope for the best. I say preserve, try new ways t of teaching, think outside the box and engage your students in the subjects that makes them wildly excited and curious about learning.
Teacher ,owner at Fun with Phonics Tutoring Company
9 年Deborah, I by no means mean to chastise the teachers. What I was saying is that the universities are not doing there job by teaching teachers how to teach reading. How to segment words, what a phoneme is.As for your comment about being able to see. I agree with you and I wonder why the school does not have a program whereby children are tested before they enter school for the year. I know in my daughters school they had to visit a eye doctor and give the results to the school. Thank- you for your comments. I believe teachers are the heart of our education. I think their hearts are breaking because they do not have the freedom to teach as they wish. Even if they see the need for extra instruction.
Tutor of shut down kids
9 年One of the first songs taught in Tamil schools is a song that goes like this, 'Mother, father, teacher, God..........' This shows the importance of a teacher in a child's life. A teacher can change the course of a students life - yes that is how powerful a teacher is. If there is such a thing as next life I would like to be a teacher - a great primary school teacher. You said: "In today’s society 60% of nation’s fourth grades are reading below grade level." I have seen this quoted all over the internet. This has been quoted for many years. My current article in Linkedin is on what Dr.Boulton and his 'wise men' had said in Children of the code. They too say the obvious after tax payers have spend millions of dollars to fund their research. Did they suggest any solution? Does any one care to find out? Will the literacy level improve?
Tutor of shut down kids
9 年Hi Betty, you said: "A recent study concluded that only 60% of the teachers knew what phonemes are. It’s not so much the teachers fault as the university that produces teachers without the tools to teach reading properly." That is valuable information as I believe that many kindergarten teachers do not know letter sound correspondence. Read my post at: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/talk-toast-masters-disengaged-students-luqman-michel?trk=prof-post You have identified that it is not the teachers fault but it is the university's fault. That is step number one. Now, how do we rectify the problem? We have to bring this up to the relevant authorities. Otherwise the problem will newer be resolved.
Developer of Youth Programs for Education & Health Promotions
9 年I agree with this post--but I suggest first we make sure all the students in the classrooms of our Teachers can 'See to Read'. Before we chastise our teachers lets make sure the kids have the basic life & learning skills. This will be easily doable in the near future with the assistance of our Future Visions Youth Development,Inc. 501c3 non profit student screening. Reading comes first, phonics will follow with word recognition; word grouping; line wrapping etc., then the children will progress to reading with fluency.But only when, they are not hindered in this natural and developmental progression by competing demands linked to health in learning--(not to be confused with medical health). I suggest 20% of our students are currently greatly hindered to develop these life skills that they need in their education & their education futures. How can any wonderful teacher teach these children who number 1 in 5 in their classrooms without first addressing those-- the competing demands to learning-- that restrict these students abilities. Then we can make sure that phonics comes next & our teachers are empowered to teach when all their students equally have the ability to learn & read .