What were the qualities and characteristics of your best teachers?
What were the characteristics of your worst teachers?
What words of wisdom did you wish you knew before starting your first year of teaching?
We're wrapping up another school year. The public school kids are the squirmiest yet; the college seniors are exhausted and elated. If it were sunny and warm here in southern Oregon even I would get a case of pre-summer laziness. But it's been raining for days on end and since I can't hit a new hiking trail as planned, I'm in the house blogging about work.
The end of the year equals copious amounts for grading and I'm totally on top if my grade game thanks to the rain. It's definitely something to celebrate.
Our graduates are about to embark on incredible journeys: a couple are headed to Alaska to teach, another to China, some are staying local to serve public school districts, charter or private schools, a handful are planning on being substitute teachers for a year. Many students are continuing on to complete a higher degree in graduate school. I'm proud of the growth the students have made this year. They can rattle off teacher talk and state their philosophy of education without batting an eye. They relate well to kids and are creative in the classroom. They have both internal and external tools to guide them to success.
They seem to have a fire in their bellies.
My wish is that they never stop learning, stretching, growing, expanding, living, and laughing. May they laugh and giggle daily and see the world through the eyes of children. I hope they are continually inspired to reach out to children and their families, and to sprinkle their goodness on all of the people around them.
Remember those questions from the beginning of this blog? Now's your time to answer them!
What were the qualities and characteristics of your best teachers?
What were the characteristics of your worst teachers?
What words of wisdom did you wish you knew before starting your first year of teaching?
If you have any words of wisdom for our graduates, please post a comment!
PS. Do you want to make a cool word cloud like the one at the beginning of this blog? Go to www.wordle.net and get started! Student would love to show their knowledge and understanding of a topic with this tool instead of writing another paper :)
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