It has been awhile since my last post. I'm one semester away from student teaching and I cannot wait!

Theory is fine but I just want to get out there and teach. As I've said in earlier posts, I'm a proponent of cooperative learning. I know that this can create some discipline problems because students have more of a voice in their education, but the benifits far outweigh the disadvantages.

I have previous experience with educating children,but student teaching will still be a challenge.

I guess all student teachers, no matter what country they come from, have similiar feelings. That's what i like about the field of education. No matter where you come from, most teachers have the same goal in mind: Realize the potential in every child.

I know that i still have a lot to learn about teaching, but as long as i keep this goal in mind, i will be on the right track.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

    Situational ethics seems to be the overiding principle in today's world. What' s right and wrong changes depending on who you talk to and what the context is. Are we not doing our children a disservice by teaching them that this is ok? When the concepts of right and wrong are to a postmodernist view of reality, everybody suffers. What's right is now whatever advances a person' s , or societies, agenda. It' s alright if someone else gets hurt as long as we get what we want.

    Whatever happened to love thy neighbour as thyself? Children should be taught that it is everyone's responsiblity to see to the welfare of others. Without this precept, people only look out for what is best for them. If someone's in the way at the checkout line and you're in a hurry, you have the right to but in line becuase you have the more urgent need. This may seem like a trivial example of situational ethics, but the concept holds for larger issues as well.

     Current corporate practices are also based on situational ethics. Profits are more important than environmental or social considerations to some corporations, so situational ethics alllows these corporations to do what is wrong to achieve what they believe is right.

Teachers need to ensure that their students understand the difference between right and wrong. They also need to teach children to act in the best interest of their fellow human beings, not just their own needs.

    & nbsp; I am always amazed that some people still think education is only about rote facts and figures. Preparing students for the economic realities they are going to face in the real world is important. But society is never going to improve if we make students into economic puzzle pieces, only taught to fit in specific roles.

    & nbsp; Society needs people who can critically and rationally examine the world they live in. Every day were are confronted with conflicting messages about  morality, accountability, and responsibility. We have leaders who perform immoral acts in the name of righteousness. People are dying on the streets in western democracies that are supposed to promote equal opportunity for all. If we let our children ignore these realities, they are doomed to repeat them when they are in positions of authority.

    Our teaching methods must be flexible enough to allow students to discuss their ideas about morality, accountability, and responsibility. Teachers cannot facilitate this kind of self directed learning if they are only worried about their students passing the next standardized test.

Learning without self-reflection is not learning. If students don't examine the rationale behind what they are learning and / or how what they are learning affects their beliefs and actions, they are in danger of becoming drones. Drones do not care about anything but what is in front of them. They work and work and work without ever knowing they reason why they are working or where the profits go from their toils.

No democracy can withstand a nation of drones for very long. It would collapse under the weight of their apathy and disinterest.

Therefore, it is crucial that the education system helps students become active, engaged members of the community.

I've just been asked who my favorite teacher was... I'd have to say it was my 7th grade english teacher .. I forget her name but she always encouraged me to express myself and to realize my potential...

I want to do the same for my students... Education should not be just a series of facts and rote calculations. True education, in my humble opinion, is teaching students how to use their abilities to improve themselves and the world they live in....

We've all had boring teachers who just went through the motions of teaching... I do not want that type of educator.. I want to ensure that my students see the value of what they are learning and can apply it to their own lives in meaningful ways....  

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   After high school, my first thoughts about a future career led me to the sciences. I wanted to be a microbiologist. After the first two years of a Bachelor of Science degree, my interest in being a scientist waned. I still had a love for knowledge, but I decided that I wanted to impart it to others in addti on to discovering it for myself. This naturally led me to consider library science as an alternative career.

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   To that end, I completed a library and information science diploma at the Kingstec campus of the Nova Scotia Community College. During and after this course of study, I worked in a variety of library settings, from a government library to elementary school libraries. I found I received the most satisfaction from my elementary school experiences. I could not find a library technician position, sop I decided to go back to university to complete a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in English. My 2 years at St Mary’s University reinforced my love of learning new things and communicating that knowledge to others. This is an essential aspect of teaching, so I decided to consider teaching as an alternative career.  

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   I love working with younger children (5-12 years old) so I decided to try to become an elementary school teacher. The opportunity to be a role model for these young people is both important and terrifying. It is important because young males and females need to see a good model what a male adult should do and say. The terrifying part is that I do not want to be a bad role model that is by not modeling the behaviours that I stress in class. What I want to accomplish as a teacher is to show my students that learning is both enjoyable and necessary by providing fun learning activities and real world examples of applied learning in the classroom, on field trips, and other situations. I experienced these things first hand when I volunteered for a grade two classes at Brookfield elementary. I worked with problem readers one on one. I also helped with class activities as well. The children’s desire to learn was one of the greatest highs I have ever had.

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   I feel that my desire to be a role model, my strong sense of responsibility, and the ability to be patient are the qualities that will help me become a good educator. The major doubts I have about becoming an elementary school teacher is my ability to discipline incorrect behaviour and my ability to control my classroom. I have a laid-back personality, so I will have to work on providing the structure in a classroom necessary for learning to take place. I will also have to watch how close I get to my students. My desire to be a good role model may make me get to close to particular students (those who need extra help, discipline etc). Teacher’s need sufficient distance from their students so that students know what the boundaries of appropriate speech and behaviour are. I also have to make sure that I do not play favourites. That I do not concentrate on certain students to the detriment of the rest of the class.

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   I take things too personally sometimes; I might feel that it is my fault if certain students fail to learn. I will probably have to realize that no matter how well I teach, their will always be external and internal obstacles to some students learning.

I think that I will be a good teacher as long as I continually reflect on what I am teaching, whom I am teaching, and how I am teaching. It will also be important to learn from more experienced teachers; sometimes it is not necessary to reinvent the wheel. I will also try not to take everything personally, a certain degree of emotional distance is important. I cannot wait to start my career as a teacher; I feel that teaching children is one of the noblest things one individual can do to contribute to society.