PPC Campaign Managements last blog post..The Truth About PPC Management

I’ve had teachers who were brilliant masters of their subjects and could answer any question in several ways until every student understood, and I treasure what I learned from these role models. I’ve also had teachers who would gladly have given me a hug and a high-five every day of the next two years I spent catching up after learning nothing.

@Bill It makes perfect sense. The strong ties to accountability and assessment can be crippling factors for teachers. Your analogy of “jailer” might be very useful. Fortunately, I’ve been able to work in spaces where assessment is seen as tools for learning not punitive or only as summative and ranking tools.

But is this kind of teaching possible—-maybe I should say probable—-when we still rely on multiple choice tests as indicators of success and accomplishment in education? Are the kinds of sophisticated learning experiences that can be facilitated by connections even necessary when all we do to measure learning is check over scantron sheets once a year?

I think what’s heartbreaking to me is that this view of a teacher is much more likely to be common in suburban schools where students are going to pass “the test” no matter what, giving teachers and principals wiggle room to explore, connect, create and communicate. In poor schools that are always dancing on the line between public success and failure, that wiggle room is pretty much non-existant. The stakes—-at least “the stakes” as defined by policymakers—-are just too high.

Any of this make sense?
Bill

Bill Ferriters last blog post.."World Class Public Education?"

This series of articles is about using technology to empower class teachers to teach children who would otherwise not succeed in the school environment.
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I suspect that the culture of the authoritative teacher will be around for a few decades yet. After all, even Bill Gates’ vision of a teacher tends towards the authoritative. We cannot have hundreds of years of teachers who have been lauded as authorities, and expect that all this cultural imagery of the teacher should change with the flick of Harry Potter’s wand.

It’s in the books and in their poetry, it’s in the films and on the videos. This authoritative icon we call a teacher is visible and taking a battering today. Kids in some schools, recognising this iconic figure of the past, are reacting to it in a way that brings some present-day teachers to their knees. Postmodernism is as prevalent as the historical image of the authoritative teacher. But this image only serves to feed the raison d’être of the postmodernists who eschew all that’s happened in the past. Things like books and practice and rote learning and logic. They look to things to replace those tools, yet they don’t quite know what to replace them with. But they will still get rid of the old stuff without regard to the effectiveness or efficiency of the vapour-ware replacements.

So the poor present-day teacher, who only wants to assist to impart and facilitate learning in the young, and in the best possible way, has to contend with a coarse and ever changing role, where expectations are almost mystical, looking to a future that no-one can visualise, coming up with all the correct pedagogical answers to questions that are themselves paradoxical.

I’m not suprised that you are hard pushed to find a description for the teacher.

Catchya later
from Middle-earth

Ken Allans last blog post..Silent Visitors

And the title you’re looking for? Well, looking at all of the descriptors you’ve chosen…”I teach, I lead, I share, I encourage, I critique, I monitor, I connect, I care, I model.” Like it or not, it comes very close to being a “parent.” (I understand there’s a difference, of course! I’m a parent! And the big descriptor that’s missing is “love.”) BUT when you have an educator who cares as much as you do about the students, about their opportunities, about their growth, you are exactly the person any parent would want for her children. You are the “parent” we want them to have during the day.

Anyway, thanks for sharing such wonderful thoughts. It’s an inspirational post and I appreciate the time you took to put it together.

Joan Gallaghers last blog post..Thanks to the People on Twitter

@Nelly, “Learning Coach” is pretty good. I’ve always loved the coaching analogy as it seems to project ideas of encouragement with a healthy balance of pressure and support.

This was really an eyeopening experience for me. I always wondered what it would be like to teach students that were scholars and if it would be any different than teaching the students that I teach. Based on this video lecture, I would have to say that it would not be much different. Thanks for the link. I will be watching more videos from this site and I hope they will make a big difference in my style of teaching.

So, in answer to your question, perhaps what students really need are educators who continue to educate themselves by sharing and learning from other educators through Personal Learning Networks and through websites like these. By doing so, they can bring the best of the best into their own classrooms and enhance the quality of their student’s learning experiences. Therefore, perhaps the title for this kind of educator should be,”Learning Coach”.

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