Yeats, a philosopher, once said: “Education is not filling the bucket, but lighting the fire” (www.quotations page.com). Teachers are the key to the future of our children, they are the ones who will ignite their love of learning. Teaching contains two main concepts of learning, the arts and the sciences. Art is defined in the Encarta Encyclopedia as “the product of creative human activity in which material is molded or selected to convey a visually interesting idea, emotion, or shape.” This describes exactly what a teacher does in a day, they create “human activity”. Although science is defined as “a study of everything that can be examined, tested or verified” (Encarta, 2003), the teacher is always studying the situation, examining what he can do and verifying that his work has been complete. Teaching is an art and science that is learned and then developed through the learning style of teachers.
Albert Einstein once said, “Believe it or not, one of my deepest regrets [is that I didn’t teach]. I’m sorry because I would have liked to have more contact with the children. There has always been something about the innocence and freshness of young children that attracts me and gives me great pleasure to be with them. And they are so open to knowledge. It has never been difficult for me to explain the basic laws of nature to children. When they reach their level, you can read their genuine interest and appreciation in their eyes (Parkway, 2001, p. 5). Albert Einstein was a mastermind and knew that teaching children was the only way to open little minds to great wisdom. It takes a special kind of person, one who knew that teaching was the life, not the career, that they wanted to lead. Teachers are required to do the “dance,” a way of gently coaxing students to greatness. This is the “dance” or movement of mental, emotional and physical preparation that develops the complete package of teaching students how to learn. This is the ability to maneuver through lesson plans, teaching strategies, print-rich classroom environments, classroom management, discipline tactics, lack of parental support or a lot of support, and all the other encounters that children teachers learn to do. This is the art and science of teaching, the ability to multitask with all of the above elements and still achieve the goal of teaching students.
Education theorist Daniel Lipton explains: “The love of learning, the love of inquiry, manifests itself in many ways. In its loving manifestations, it seems that we go beyond ourselves, to discover, create and discover. We invest and commit ourselves to the world around us ”(Lipton, 2000, 22). Teachers are committed to their students, to the lasting learning process, and to the schools they teach. This means that they must find ways to teach their class everything that students will need throughout their lives, not just during the school year. Liston writes about the love of learning and teaching by stating:
As teachers, we share this love of learning with our students. To teach
it is publicly sharing this love; is asking others to be attracted to
the same powers that attract and attract us; is trying to get our
for students to see the grace and attraction these “great things” have
for us. When teaching, we reach out to our students in an attempt to
create connections between them and our subjects. We want them to love
what we find so attractive.
As a teacher, you cannot settle for anything less than thorough knowledge and dedication to your students. This requires an enthusiasm for teaching students to achieve far beyond their expectations in the classroom, a desire to stay educated. An example would be that of a parent who does not allow their child to leave home without the proper thresholds and developments to live on their own. Teachers do not want their “children” to live without proper education (Cain, 2001).
Liston writes: “Good teaching involves a kind of romantic love for the learning enterprise; it is motivated by and instills in others a love of inquiry … if guided by an expanded love, teaching can become an ongoing struggle that nurtures our students and our own souls. ” (Liston, 2000, p. 81). Teaching is based on both physical and emotional level, or “emotional and intellectual work.” Regardless of age or grade level taught, teachers are effective through emotions and ideas on how to spark students’ interest in learning. When a teacher is successful in a lesson plan, it feels like anything can be conquered. This is a claim that most professions will never achieve in their careers (Liston, 2000). Teachers have learned that their art of teaching is to mold and explore the needy minds of their students.
Frank Smith, a leading educational theorist, comments: “The brutally simple motivation behind the development and enforcement of all systematic instructional programs is the lack of confidence that the teacher can teach and that the student can learn. To be effective, teachers must have the flexibility to adapt their methods to the needs of each student ”(Perlich, 2000, p. 1). This is the art and science of teaching. The ability to restore confidence to the teacher and students and to do so creatively. Lesson planning is one of the ways that teachers can develop flexibility and adapt to the needs of individual students. This is because the lesson plan is at the core of classroom stability and what will really make the student want to learn. There is a special art / style that a teacher must possess to accommodate these classes. Lesson plans should keep the interest of the child and also the learning style of each student. The lesson must be well thought out and very well planned, on behalf of the teacher. Lesson plans should follow these simple rules:
1. Identify the special needs of each student through assessment and evaluation.
2. Choose a lesson based on the needs of the group and the experiences or lessons you want to learn.
3. Make good decisions about how the book will be used in class (Batzle, 1996).
Other questions a teacher might think about when developing lesson plans is whether it is interesting to students and how long it will hold their attention. Learning should be fun and not something that causes groans and groans when speaking. Sesame Street is a great show for kids to watch and this show is done in a way that kids, as young as 12 months old, don’t even realize they are learning. Melanie Roberts, a special education teacher, noticed that her 20-month-old son could count to 20 without her help. Upon further investigation, she found out that he had found out about this from Sesame Street. He didn’t even know he was learning because he enjoyed what he was doing (Roberts, 2003). This is how the teacher’s lessons should be, an unknown learning process. One way to do this is to always educate yourself and learn new strategies for teaching subjects.
For reading, a fun and educational lesson plan would be for students to read or for the teacher to read their favorite book. When the book is finished, assess students through shared writing or a writing workshop. An example would be reading the book “Stone Soup”. After reading the book, students will have the student turn the story into a poster, create a new ending in groups, use a stage to create a postcard, or create a paper doll for each character and act out the book. The teacher can even have a special stone and make soup with the class after the lesson and assessment are over. There are many ways to make students learn without realizing this. Another great resource would be to use online reading sites. Links for learning, [http://www.links-for-learning.com] has an excellent site for teacher resource books. These books provide grade level reading books.
Diane Perlich, leader of the California Literature Project, states, “Regardless, the children in our classroom will live into the future and it is our responsibility as educators to provide the learning environment in which they can successfully prepare.” (Perlich , 2000, p. 1). A print-rich environment is very important to developing a positive atmosphere that provides classroom learning. With this aura developed by the teacher, students will be able to openly express their thoughts and personality, opening the door between a higher thought process and that child. This room will provide a place for students to escape any difficulties they may encounter outside of the classroom and will allow this place to be their “safe haven.” A good example of making a classroom easy to print is having a movable word wall. This is a giant sheet of paper with the alphabet attached. When students learn a new word, its spelling, etc. the teacher attaches that word to the “word wall” below the corresponding letter. This will help with phonics, sight reading, and word memorization. A literacy-rich environment would include learning centers, colored rugs, or clustered seating arrangements. Anything can make a classroom easy to print, as long as the classroom allows students to feel important and comfortable learning.
Lelia Christie Mullis, a 20-year-old teacher, writes, she encourages “students to search their own memories and recall the fears, shame, and joy of learning they felt … I hope they give their students an environment liter positive, full of oral and written languages, which engenders joy more than any other emotion, that magical process that we call learning can change lives forever (Perlich, 2000, p. 105). That is what the teacher lives for, a place where learning is the center of each student’s thought. A teacher must be able to bring information to students in the way that she creatively believes to be effective. You must be able to establish positive relationships with your students and their parents. You should create the lesson plans that you think will be important. The teacher should be the owner of her room, allowing the atmosphere to reflect her teaching style. You must be in full control of your classroom and what happens within it. This is called education and education is the art and science of teaching.
References
Cain, MS (2001). Teaching, the social aspect. Phi Delta Kappan, 82 (9), 702.
Batzle, J. (1996). Recommended reading and writing strategies. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Encarta Online. (2003). http://www.encarta.com
Liston, DP (Winter 2000). Creative teachers: risk, responsibility and love. Theory of Education, 50 (1), 22-81.
Parkway, FW (2001). Become a teacher. In Art and Science of Teaching. Boston, Pearson Education Company.
Perlich, Diane (2000). Let’s put phonetics in perspective. K-3 Basic Literacy
Training: Los Angeles, University of California-Los Angeles Press.
Roberts, MRB (2003). A conversation with Melanie Roberts (interview with Deborah Cluff).
Quote. (2003). Retrieved July 20, [http://www.quotaionspage.com]
