Thursday, March 22, 2007

Going Through Basic Teacher Training

In order to become a teacher, you not only have to have your education and land a job, but you also will most likely have to go through mandatory teacher training at the school you are hired at. This involves many basic teaching principles that you no doubt already know, as well as basic information on school policies and the resources offered by the school. You will become familiar with the communication used in the school, and the tools at your disposal to teach your class as efficiently as possible. Teacher training is extremely useful for a new teacher, and here are a few reasons why.

Any school offers a number of resources that are very beneficial to a teacher. This could include access to journal databases to learn more about teaching, or resources in the computer lab that will be at your disposal throughout your teaching career. These things will come in very handy for you, and since they are offered free you will not want to pass up the change to take advantage of them. By going through new teacher training at the school you have been hired at, you can learn all about these resources that are available to you, as well as how to access them.

During a teacher training session, things such as the school policies will be discussed. If you are moving to this school after a long period at another school, you will definitely want to read through this. From stricter bathroom passes to recess rules, these things can make a big difference in how well you do in your first few weeks. Familiarize yourself with the schools policies, and you will be able to abide by the rules at all times.

So while it may seem like teacher training is just a drag designed to make the life of a new teacher miserable, you should still bare your teeth and just push through it. It has many benefits, from becoming familiar with the facility to protecting yourself from getting in trouble with the school. It will also help you become more comfortable in a job that is new and foreign to you. So be sure to go to the teacher training that is offered to you. You will be glad that you took advantage of it when you still had the chance to.

Teachers: Impressions that Last a Lifetime

Almost any adult is able to remember many details of each of their teachers throughout elementary, middle, and high school. It isn’t uncommon for an adult to be able to recite the names of every teacher from every grade, as well as any quirks or memorable events that occurred in that class. This just goes to show the importance of teachers in the lives of children, and now much of an impression can be made. But what do teachers really teach children? Will kids really ever use the knowledge taught in class, or do public schools completely lack any real world skills?

The public school system of America has been criticized endlessly by people for as long as many of us can remember. If you look at the learning curriculum of kids in every grade, you can see why. Many children are learning things that don’t do anything to further their intelligence or their learning abilities. In Kindergarten, children learn about the metamorphosis processes of various insects. The different stages of the insect are discussed. But when you consider the intelligence of the average kindergartener, you wonder if this information is being spoken to deaf ears. Can they really appreciate the beauty of nature and the amazing life processes?

Many say that rather than teaching these children various facts that will never come in handy, we should be teaching them how to learn and prepare them for future years. Humans are by nature a very adaptive species, but school is not exactly a natural environment. The children deal with things that don’t come naturally for any human being. So in their younger years, schools should be more focused on giving children the passion for learning and the desire for knowledge that will help them in later schools, and also in their life in general.

Some think that this would be impossible, and that the school system is doing a great job as it is. Supporters for the system say that the best way to accomplish it is to create a rewarding and safe learning environment in which the student does his or her own research and studying, and uses deductive reasoning to reach conclusions. If a curriculum or teaching method could be developed that would accomplish these things, it would be an amazing step forward for the school system and teachers as a whole.

Appreciating Teachers Who Go Above and Beyond the Call of Duty

It is often said that teachers are the most underappreciated asset that society has. We trust the future of world in their hands, since they are training those who will someday run it. In order to fully appreciate all that a teacher does for you and your child, you need to get a better idea for the daily duties of a teacher. More often than not, they go above and beyond what is expected of them in order to connect with the students and do their job as effectively as possible. Here are some of the things a teacher does in order to maximize his or her effectiveness.

Usually a teacher will spend hours of time off the clock in order to make the classroom a better place for all of the students. By doing research on learning methods and teaching methods alike, teachers can learn how to specifically help out students who don’t seem to be getting the content as well as the rest of the class. This information will teach the teacher in a way, and result in a teaching method that is much preferable. Teachers are never obligated to undergo this extra learning process, but many do it anyway.

Teachers also take a personal interest in their jobs, despite a pay that is lower than average. Being passionate about ones job is a trait that is not very common in this day and age, and for teachers the passion to teach is almost taken for granted. Teachers want to do the best that they can to teach children everything in the curriculum, and usually the hard efforts go unnoticed by the parents and by the administrators.

Hopefully you can see now that teachers are much underappreciated, and do a lot more work than they are given credit for. So if you have a teacher that is teaching either yourself you’re your child, you should be sure to show how much you appreciate his or her efforts. Teachers are conditioning the minds that will someday be running the world, and this fact alone is a good reason to applaud them for their line of work.

Elementary Teachers Set the Foundation for Future Education

Children in elementary school are in a very impressionable stage of life. Therefore, the teaching styles of elementary teachers are completely vital to the future academic success of a child. If good study habits and a good work ethic are stressed by the teachers in grade school, these things will stick with a student for the rest of his or her life. Therefore, you should try to be as selective as possible about what teacher your child ends up with, so that you end up with one who can really educate your child in a way that is worthwhile.

You should not hesitate to go and interview your child’s prospective elementary school teacher. They have not reached the age yet at which this will be embarrassing, so it is definitely a good idea. You can find out more about their teaching style, and find out if it will be something that is in line with what you think children should be learning. The best way for a child to learn is to develop a true interest in learning, and to be able to pursue interests at a pace that is appropriate. Elementary school classes often force children to move at a pace that is too fast or too slow for his or her own personal learning style. This an quickly lead to losing interest or giving up on the course.

Besides his or her views on the pacing of a class, you should also pick the teachers mind for views on individual attention. When a teacher spends all of the class time lecturing, it can seem very impersonal to the children. So by spending time with each individual child, the teacher can cater to his or her own learning style and each child will be able to succeed much easier in the long run.

Once you have talked to the elementary teacher, you should be able to determine whether he or she will be a good fit for your child. If you know how your child’s brain works, you will know exactly what sort of class will result in the largest amount of information being withheld. Just take your time in choosing where your child will attend school. It is a very important time of life at which habits for the future are created, and you should not rush it any more than you should ruin it by causing your child to be in a poor class.

How to Become a Teacher

Do you feel as though you have the skills required to teach children life skills that they will use forever? Do you get along with young ones very well? You should consider being a teacher. There will always be a demand for teachers as new schools are built and learning programs are expanded. Becoming a teacher is fairly easy, and almost anyone can get a shot at it. If you are skilled enough at working with children, you can undoubtedly have a successful future at teaching, and slowly but surely work your way up in the system to a higher salary.

Few teachers immediately get started in a leading teacher position. Most of the time if you ask a teacher how he or she got started at the current school of employment, you will find that there is a past of other smaller jobs. The two main entry level jobs include substitute teaching and assistant positions. Both of these are fairly easy to get with the right licensing, and if you do a good job then you will be able to get your name in the systems of schools. If you apply for a job with a school that has had good reports on your work as a substitute teacher, your chances of being accepted are greatly increased.

To become a substitute teacher or an assistant, you will have to complete the necessary education and licensing. A bachelor’s degree is usually the minimum thing to have if you want to be taken seriously when applying for teaching jobs, but further education will just heighten your likelihood of being accepted. To be a substitute teacher, you will probably have to get a substitute license from your local district office. This will allow you to enter the database of substitutes, and get on the call list for whenever a substitute is needed.

To work your way up in the teaching world, you truly have to work your way up from rock bottom. You may get your start in the undesirable and low-paying positions, but these will quickly give way to better teaching opportunities. If you really have a passion for teaching, then you won’t have a problem with going through the necessary process to get to the top.