Dispositions

What does it mean to be a good thinker? Good thinkers certainly have thinking skills. But they also have, motivations, attitudes, values and habits of mind all play key roles in good thinking, and if people use their thinking skills when it is needed.

Can dispositions be taught?

I think they can be taught but a teacher cannot make their students learn. The student has to find a spark of interest in what they are learning and then they will want to learn.

Teacher dispositions loosely equate to values, beliefs, attitudes, characteristics, professional behaviors and qualities, ethics, and perceptions but not all of that can be taught. It is up to the teacher to teach to their best ability.

Resilience

It is difficult to prepare future educators for the many different things that will stress the teacher and bring the teacher joy until they have actually been there. You cannot necessarily prepare teachers will all the stresses that come with teaching because each child is different and they need different things but we can have ideas and experience to have us as teachers have one step in the door.

There are a lot of high teachers out there because they get burnt out before they get to experience more joys than stresses. I want a real life non sugar coated reflection from a teacher in their first five years. I want updates on what they did, what not to do and more. I want to know what to expect, to be sort of prepared but not fully. I just want to be a teacher already:)

Technology

How much should we rely on technology?

Is it too popular now? Or are teachers forced to use technology to teach the students?

I know that when I shadowed an older teacher that she did not use very much technology because she did not know the specifics of all the new programs and such. I think we a steering away from the old teaching style but I do not how much it will be effective because I have not dealt with it myself. Should schools provide laptops for all students? I sure wish I has a laptop. I like the new technology that changes voice to text and such-- good ideas to bring into the education world! :)

Efficacy

In order to teach someone you have to believe in both your own ability to teach them and the students ability to learn the material. The most effective teachers believe in themselves and their own ability to teach. Why would a student want to learn if you as a teacher was not able to believe in themselves? As a teacher you just need to keep working and believing in yourself--never give up!

Inventiveness

When allowed to do what we want to do, we are most likely to revert to whatever we previously found enjoyable and/or successful. This amounts to what I call, “another one of those” artworks. Sad as that is, the worst part is that the creative process is not being learned (Bartel).

I think teachers in every area need to reflect on what they are doing that tends to help the creative critical thinking that is a definite need to be successful in a specific skill in today's time and age. Children should be able to choose and work to better their creativity but it also needs to be monitored so the child does not just repeat the same old stuff. I always remember doing fun project that engaged my creativity and made me want to try new ideas. Teachers need to be aware of ways to help teach creativity, if they don't the students wouldn't know how to think out of the box and understand how much creativity is used in the world. I found some tips on why teachers should teach creativity to students

Because your brain will thank you...

• Develop your potential beyond the boundaries of intelligence
  Expand on your abilities. Develop all of your potential!
  
• Rapid growth of competition in business and industry
  In a world of increasing complexity, change, and competition, generating new ideas and bringing them to the table is now essential for corporate management. Successful businesses are the ones that instill creativity throughout the organization.
  
• Effective use of human resources creativity is a human resource which exists in all organizations
  To survive in today's economy, it is imperative for an organization to nurture the creative potential of its human resources.
  
• Discover new and better ways to solve problems
  Increasingly, the problems you face are complex and open-ended. Knowledge alone isn't enough to reach innovative solutions. Creative thinking skills are required.
  
• Development of society
  Creativity is a central factor in our ability to continue to adapt to the changing environment. If a nation actively seeks to nurture creativity, it will play a part in making history.
  
• Building on the nature of knowledge
  Creativity skills can assist an individual in enhancing his or her knowledge base. Without creative thinking, an individual is condemned to stay within the knowledge base as it is given.
  
• Natural human phenomenon
  Creativity is very democratic! Everyone has some, but to varying levels and degrees. We know these abilities can be enhanced.
  
• Important aspect of mental health
  Individuals who are capable of incorporating creativity into their lives can enjoy the experience of discovering, developing, and utilizing their many talents. Skills relevant to creativity are also useful in coping with life's challenges. There is no doubt, creative thinking is a critical life skill.
  
• Growing body of interest
  There is a growing body of literature that represents impressive progress in understanding the nature of creativity. Moreover, there have been a large number of national and international conferences on creativity for over 50 years.
  
• Builds on all disciplines
  Creativity is in all fields-from chemistry to engineering, education to computer science, sociology to business.
  
• Contributes to effective leadership
  It is the application of creativity skills that distinguishes a manager who maintains the status quo from a leader who supplies a new direction or vision. By internalizing the spirit of creativity and the principles of creative problem solving, an individual can be transformed into a change leader.
  
• Enhances the process of learning
  The nature of learning requires the use of skills associated with creativity. Educators adopt a creative approach to teaching are more likely to deliver content and create a learning environment that develops higher order thinking skills.

(http://www.buffalostate.edu/creativity/whycreativity.xml)

No Child Left Behind Role Play

I feel that engaging students in role play will be beneficial to their learning. After a while, even in my classes, I tend to wander off while teachers are just talking. But by having students engage the questions and ideas and fire the questions back and forth at each other really works.
I thought Dr. Langholz and Dr. Kinnick did a great job of setting the scence for the role play. If they just stood there the role play wouldn't have been as effective but since they both particpated and provided useful information. They did their jobs as role playing and it helped engage the students.
In my town, I feel the people who have a higher adavtange are the parents that contribute to the school. In one case, a student got special privledges because her parents had more power in the school system, it may not necessarily be the higher income families.

Passion!

Let's start with the negative, In high school, I had a teacher that spoke with a monotone and we did nothing fun to gage our learning..he sat and lectured and lectured. Some people might have learned from his teaching style, I did but it was definitely not the style I will use in my teaching.

But to brighten it up, I remember a teacher with great enthusiasm. The teacher I observed for Intro to Teaching throught NIACC. She is a great teacher and she did great songs and such to gage the students to participate in. She loved her job and her kids knew it too.

Authenticity

Teachers need to be authentic. I feel that if you are authenitic, you would be authentic in many situations. The students know when a teacher is just going throught the movements or putting on a act. When a teacher is excited about the subject they are teaching, the children will be more likely to be excited about the subject. The teacher has to have the same excitement for the boring repetitive math facts as for the cool science experiment. If not, the children will feel that if the teacher is not compassionate about the subject, why should they be excited about learning it. Each student needs to have that excitement to boost their learning and the teachers need to do everything to boost the children's excitement for learning.

Compassion!

What does compassion mean to you?
It seems compassion really is what people do, their action. You cannot show compassion by just saying "I am a compassionate person". If you were compassionate about something, you go out and do something, even if it is just to volunteer at the soup kitchen or at the local library or donating money or your own time to the schools PTO carnival.

A fellow blogger wrote about compassion and how the teacher incorperated into the class room. This blog was very interesting. It gives me ideas to think about to help students boost their confidence and know that others around them DO care about them. Here is the link to the blog---http://leslieinvancan.blogspot.com/2006/01/compassionate-teacher.html--

When my past teachers showed compassion towards me I felt accepted and that I could participate in class and not be shy.

My example was at in a camp setting, but I consider the counselors, teachers in a way, I will relate it to compassion. In camp, all of the campers had to sheets of paper to write down comments about fellow campers, I remember on day I got a sheet saying that "they loved to see my beautiful smile." I still have that paper today, hanging by my mirror showing me that I am accepted and people DO care about me. In just seeing that sheet of paper when I feel sad, it just boosts my confidence :)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me...

I define respect as when a person values another persons opinion and thoughts and then treats that person with dignity by appreciating the person for their character, knowledge, intellect. It shows how valuable that person is to others. I feel respect has to be earned, it shouldn't be handed out.

I believe that respect in the classroom is a two way street. The students have to respect the teachers and believe that the teachers will teach the students to their best ability. In turn, the teachers have to respect the students and believe that each student can learn, it is just how the teachers present it. If the students respect me ( as a teacher) I will respect them.

If the respect is not present the students are then more likely to talk back and be disruptive, leading to a classroom that can be more out of control (Ford).

Respect is best established when both parties agree on what they feel respect is. Students and teachers should brainstorm and list ideas on what they think respect is. If it is discussed at the beginning, the teachers and students can refer back to it, if needed.












Ford, Donna. "Respect in the classroom starts with teachers." 2008