Mastering The Art Of Teaching

Mastering The Art Of Teaching The Principles of Teaching represents what I have learned about the art of teaching over the course of my thirty year career.

The principles I include in the book are meant to be both a practical guide and an inspiration to teachers who are just entering

11/21/2023

In 1915, Effie Hotchkiss bought a new Harley-Davidson and attached a sidecar to carry her mother, Avis, as a passenger. The pair then set out from Brooklyn to see the Panama Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco. Avis had instilled confidence in her daughter, and when asked if she had fears about the arduous cross-country journey, Avis replied, “I do not fear breakdowns, for Effie, being a most careful driver, is a good mechanic and does her own repairing with her own tools.” The pair were the first women to cross America by motorbike, at a time when the roads, where they existed, were simply horrendous. After visiting the Pacific Coast, the pair rode back to Brooklyn, for an epic 9,000-mile journey.

06/09/2021

FYI

03/21/2021

This rural school in Arkansas saved more than $600,000 in utility costs by going solar.

03/14/2021

TEACHERS 10/30/16

A friend addressed me as “Dr” in a classroom a few weeks ago.I told him that I was a retired middle school history teacher not a “Dr”.About a week later he called me “Dr” once again in the same place about the same time.I told him once again that I was a middle school history teacher not a Phd.He apologized some time later and I said there was no apology necessary-but that I did not want people to think I was a professor or that I had earned a Phd degree.I do have a Master’s Degree and I have taught on the college level but I am not a professor.I taught in middle school classrooms for 85% of my career.Now let's get into what this is really about.I believe it is just as important to be a middle school history teacher as it is to be a professor.I am impressed with the extraordinary achievement of earning a Phd degree-and it is necessary to have that credential for college level teaching-but it does not necessarily make you a better teacher or a more important one for that matter.All teachers at every level from kindergarten to graduate level are important. I also believe that the most important teachers are at the primary school level.The younger the student the more important the teacher is.The younger the student is; the more important it is to avoid mistakes.Mistakes by teachers at the youngest level can be the most damaging to a child.

Teachers are as important as any other profession with the possible exception of Doctors.Teachers and doctors are so important because it is imperative that they do their jobs well-the benefits are enormous when they do their jobs well-but a job poorly done is, in inverse proportion, damaging.Even fatal in the case of a doctor.

All professions are important;.each at its essential core provides a valuable service to our society.Some professions can be really tough,but the tough ones are often the most rewarding.

Police officers,firemen,public defenders,school administrators,priests,ministers,Transcendental Meditation teachers.psychologists;there are countless others,all deserve respect,appreciation,and a decent living.

Jim Turner 2000 North Court Fairfield Iowa,52556. Ph 518-364-8617.

03/14/2021

Teachers Are Born Not Made 11/12/17

Every teacher who enters the profession and really sticks with it realizes, at some point, that teachers are born not made.No teacher would try to tell you that a born teacher doesn’t have to work hard to become a good teacher.They do.But the born teacher usually does want to become a good teacher and they are more than willing to put the time and effort into doing so.

How can you tell someone is not a born teacher? Not easy.Only the teacher really knows.But if a teacher finds himself checking out the vacation schedule on the first day of school that may be a sign.Or at least a sign it is time to retire.If a teacher doesn’t want to spend the extra time going to their students sporting events,plays.concerts,and academic competitions,that is also a sign.If a teacher finds themselves constantly complaining about one thing or another;comes late, leaves early,and/ or avoids the more challenging aspects of the job like organizing parent teacher conferences,those all may be signs.A teacher who does not want to stay current with the latest developments in their field of expertise may also be giving a sign that they were not born to teach.


However even a born teacher needs support and guidance from a mentor and or division head.Most teachers-even the born ones,discover that there is an age group they are better suited to teach.It is actually vitally important that a teacher be able to work with and teach an age group they are best suited to.One of the problems in schools is that a good teacher keeps getting moved around to different age groups simply because they are a good teacher.It is usually pretty obvious when a teacher has become less effective with a different age group.They find themselves less understanding and patient-confused,tired and working too hard.With the group they are best suited to they naturally seem to understand the children,have plenty of patience and understanding;and teaching them often seems easy and fun.Now the big question? Is there generally a pattern among teachers that reveals the age group they are best suited to teach? Yes! It is often the grade or grades that represented the biggest challenges for the teacher during their own school years.The grade they had problems adjusting to.The time of life when they felt especially sensitive and vulnerable and when they most depended on their teachers who were kind,patient,and understanding.They naturally become that teacher for their own students;sometimes without even realizing it is an influence of their own past experience as a student.

A school district that emphasizes the intuitive aspects of the teaching profession usually gains a reputation for excellence.This means that they have teachers:retired teachers,former teachers,and most importantly administrators who are former teachers,helping younger teachers find their niche:the best subjects to teach and the age group they are best suited to teaching.This is not easy.And it is not just about logic-Intuition plays an important role.And born teachers have that intuition.Let them help their younger colleagues.

Jim Turner 2000 North Court 3M Fairfield,Iowa 52556-PH 518- 364- 8617.

11/26/2020

Happy Thanksgiving!

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