"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
As I read this section, I couldn’t help but think that I need to put more laughter in my classroom. When I started teaching 6 years ago I went in with the purpose of really connecting with the kids to help them achieve. I think the best way to connect with students or anyone for that matter is through laughter. I love to laugh and have used my sense of humor to get myself through many situations. I bought the book for this course while I was still in grad school working on my teacher’s certification. I never had a chance to read while I was in school but thought I would read it once I started teaching. It sat on my bookshelf for the last 6 years; I never found the time to read it with the three different science curriculums, five different administrators, my two children graduating from high school and going off to college and all the other things that seemed to be a priority at the time. I feel like I have become too serious during the last few years and that it has interfered with my relationships with my students. I think I laughed much more and used humor in my classroom much more during my first few years teaching and my goal after reading this is to get back to that point and beyond. Things that I do to foster a “fun-damental” attitude is to share silly goofy stories about myself, family or my dogs and encourage the students to also share. Its amazing the connections you can make with a student just by sharing a little bit about yourself. I also try to incorporate games as much as possible into the classroom and also give the students some say in what goes on in the classroom. We also have little parties just to break up the routine.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading about some of the frustrations of the teaching profession, I was thinking, no matter what the job these frustrations could be transferable. The job does not generate enthusiasm it is how the person does the job that creates a productive work environment.
ReplyDeleteMy results of the “laughing versus limiting teaching style quiz” were not a surprise. On the encouraging side, I like to surround myself with friends and family members who keep a positive attitude. I have high expectations for myself and my students and I look at failures as a learning experience. I need to work on loosening up my need to control situations and focus more on the learning process. Although my attitude is positive, I am very goal oriented which can negatively effect my fun meter.
To foster a fun-damental attitude in my life I am focusing on playing with my children more instead of watching them play. My husband is the one who usually has all the fun with the children while I am running around making sure the household chores are all completed. What a great time to stop this one-sided cycle. The chore list is now divided and I get to have fun too. We brainstormed a list of fun activities (board games, squirt gun fights, jumping on the trampoline, etc.) to do at home together and now we take turns picking out an activity.