Like most teachers I know, I decided to go into this profession in order to "make a difference" in this sometimes too fast pace world we live in. So often on the news we see some of the horrific things people do to each other and the planet. Many times I wonder "What went so wrong in this person's life that they would do such things?", and I also wonder if they lacked something in their childhoods that let them know that they mattered.
I know that when I was young, a teacher's encouragement, advice and praise sometimes carried more weight than that of my parents (parents were SUPPOSED to think all your art pictures and science projects were great, right?). As I got older, I decided that I wanted to be able to do that for children at a young age (before they decided to cut up folks and store them in a freezer), and make sure they knew that they mattered. So, when I came across this article on Edutopia.com by Vicki Zakrzewski entitled "Put the 'Awe' Back in 'Awesome'", I really was reminded of why I got into teaching in the first place. In the article, Ms. Zakrzewski discusses how teachers can and should incorporate the issues that are important to students into their learning experiences in order to foster a sense of purpose in students. An example that is given in the article describes a first grade student moved to start a non-profit foundation that produces clean water for over 789,000 people- all based on a discussion with his teacher about people in Africa not having clean water to drink. (Pretty impressive, huh?) The article goes on to give suggestions about how teachers can go about providing these sorts of experiences for their students. Let me know what you think!!
No comments:
Post a Comment