Role Playing

I believe role playing is a great way to get ideas out there long as respect for the other parties' opinions is upheld. If this is not the case the whole thing would become just a big shouting match. The point of role playing is to think of things that have never been thought of or brought up in discussion before in a smaller setting. The only problem with this type of teaching is that some people might not get the whole overall point of the role playing. One person might find out the meaning of life while another person is left wondering why they didn't get a chance to speak. However, in a role playing situation the subject of voice is easier to explain. When someone is simply ignored it becomes an issue in role playing. In a lecture type of setting that would be thought of as listening and agreeing.

I also think there is a good point behind having all the kids learn the basics before moving on, but not all kids learn at the same pace. Even though some kids don't get the basics right away they could learn them with another concept later on. It's kind of like algebra. Some things just make more sense with other things. If you don't get the concept right away its okay. It will come back again later. I also think that by holding a child back until they pass a test is not a good thing. Then they are stuck in a grade with younger kids and that would either make the kid feel stupid or pressure him to pass. This puts unneeded stress on the child. This is a lot like threatening a child not to fail. They art going to fail sometimes and that is just a fact of life. Plus in real life are you held back from something just because you don't know something? If that is a fact then no one in this world is ever going to get a job for the first time unless they have schooling in it.

I am a firm proponent of the emotional side of learning. Emotions are the spice of life. If you can't feel good after passing a really hard test then there is no point in taking the test. Accomplishment and achievement are both academic standpoints and also emotional standpoints. If you don't feel like you have accomplished or achieved anything then there is no point.

I think there is a reason school boards listen to higher achieving people than non-achievers. I think that has to do with the sense of understanding we have for those people is greater. Because we are now from a higher part of learning we appreciate people who try to achieve as we did. This gives us an easy excuse for a bias. This we must watch out for though because there still could be great input from less educated or lower achieving people as from the other end. As we have read before in Santrock there are multiple levels of intelligence and achievement is only one of them. Also the money for projects and programs comes from community members so there is a good reason we listen to the more influential people in the community. Its because they are INFLUENTIAL! Duh! That is why they have that name.

Passion

I can very clearly remember a person who influenced my whole life with his passion. This person is Benjamin Kambs. He was my choir teacher in high school and he really was the one who stirred up my passion for choir and singing. If he was not there in my life I don't know if I would have as big of a passion. Whenever I talked about that subject with him he would "light up" so to speak and give me several examples about anything I would ask of him. His ability to give out well informed information about his passion really ignited mine.

On the other hand this was not true at all about my 10th grade English teacher. He would not care about what went on in class or how anyone did in that class. I was usually a straight A student and I managed to get an F on one of my midterm report cards. He would always hand out a lot of homework just before the bell rang and then expect us to finish before the next class. He would never talk about his subject either. He would talk about other things and ramble on about random things until the last few minutes of class. I got an F in that class at one point because the class bored me so much that I just didn't want to do the homework. I felt like it was a waste of my time. The other side of this story is the 11th grade. There was another English teacher that was very passionate about her subject and would answer any question we had about her subject matter. She gave out even more homework than my teacher in the previous year but I was still able to keep up with the work. Because of her passion, I was able to keep my grades up and like the English language once again.

Authenticity

Authenticity is something that can not be explained in great detail. It is sometimes called "being real" and not "fake." I believe this feeling of being "fake" comes from a lack of trust in a person. I think when someone does not trust me properly they don't think I am being serious. I could say I have shook the hand of every major conductor in the Midwest but no one would believe me right away. Trust is required to give authenticity. Students are very good at calling out authenticity. The most common ways are asking for the teacher to expand on what they just said. If the teacher fumbles for words or seems to have no answers then the students don't believe it. Then a small amount of trust is lost between the student and the teacher, making the next fact even easier to not believe.

Ultimately the whole issue of authenticity comes down to trust. The students must believe the teacher to learn anything from them. Without this trusting relationship then the students will be lost in their teacher's ramblings. The teacher must be able to back their stance somehow.

Personally I try to keep things simple. That way there is no need for long explanations. But, if there is a need for a longer explanation then I will give it. I believe the longer explanation would be well worth the trust of the students.

Compassion

I have not encountered compassion very often in my life. I grew up in a farming community in Indiana among two of my three brothers. More often than not I was shown no compassion and if I was it was only fake and meant almost nothing to me. I was often told that 'life is not fair.' That is why whenever someone showed me compassion it meant a lot more to me than they could ever have known.

One such example was my Freshman year in high school. I was put into the top show choir that year because I was a great high tenor. That year I recieved not one but two solos in the final show. Unfortunately before the year ended my voice decided to change. I dropped about three octaves in my voice and lost both solos. My choir director felt bad for me because there was nothing that I could do. So, my director 'took me under his wing' so to speak and was in conversation with me throughout this phase in my life. If it wasn't for his compassion I do not think I would have this love for singing that I enjoy to this day. It took very little effort on his part to show he cared but it meant the world to me and my singing career.

Respect

Respect is when a person is held to a high standard. The person who is held in respect has worked for some time at getting that type of treatment. Having respect means there is no longer a need to motivate the followers to give respect. It is an intangible thing that makes a person want to do things for the person they have respect for. Without respect, a person is not well trusted, liked, and even not welcome sometimes. If you don't respect someone, you don't even want to be in their presence.
In a classroom setting, if the teacher has respect from their students then the class will naturally be quiet. In my experience throughout high school and college the more the teacher is respected the more focused the class is. If the teacher is respected the class will know that the teacher is trustworthy and will enjoy listening to them.
I would say that the easiest way to earn respect is to find out about the kid's lives. If the teacher knows of a common interest then they can build a relationship through that. This would then start the trust in the relationship. But, the teacher must also be very careful in this stage to be totally honest because the student is very vulnerable and is not looking to trust the teacher yet. There must first be a reason to trust and respect. Without this key stage in the classroom there can be no real respect for a teacher.