I will post a delayed wrap-up about Paris in the next day or two. In the meantime, I offer the following. I wasn’t tagged by anyone because none of the teachers I know blog, and I don’t know any of the teachers whose blogs I read.
1. I am a good teacher because… I genuinely care about my students. I don’t get out of bed every morning to go teach English, I get out of bed to go teach students.
2. If I weren’t a teacher, I would be… the co-owner (with my bride) of the neatest little coffee shop around. It would actually be three connected businesses. On the left would be Miranda’s scrapbooking business. In the middle would be a coffee shop / cafe, and on the right would be a bookstore. Miranda’s scrapbooking part would be called Scrap a Latte, and the rest would be called Cafe Diem.
3. My teaching style is… a manifestation of my own ADD?
4. My classroom is… waiting to be declared a federal disaster area? Seriously, I figured out years ago that I spent more waking hours in my classroom than any other place. As a result, I have painted and decorated three different classrooms in order to get away from the institutional decor. One was black and white, the other ended up with a pretty cool faux finish and a HUGE mustang head (as in from floor to ceiling), and now I am in a room where the walls have been painted white but I have one focal wall that is a cool shade of blue, and another wall with different sized rectangles in varying shades of blue and green. (I also have hundreds upon hundred of my books in there. What can I say? I am an English teacher!)
5. My lesson plans… are due at 8:00 on Monday morning. Sometimes, I even have them done by then.
6. One of my teaching goals is… possibly not related to my teaching, but I really want to complete my doctorate.
7. The toughest part of teaching is… motivating the unmotivated.
8. The thing I love most about teaching is… when the light bulb goes off. Well, that and one other thing that I had a professor mine mention this week. He voiced what I have always felt. Dr. Dyal said, “We know that as teachers, all of the students aren’t going to like us… some of them hate us. But some of them… they really love us.” And you know what? Some of them really do.
9. A common misconception about teaching is… that teachers only work nine months a year and we are off by 3:00 every day.
10. The most important thing I’ve learned since I started teaching… college is not everyone. When I first started teaching, I thought all of my students should go. Now, I realize that further education and training is important, but for some people, a trade school would provide better opportunities.
Interesting insights into the teachings of Blair. I like your concept of a three-part business (did you get the name from Eureka?)
Just wanted to let you know that I copied you on my blog. I am in the same situation, I don’t know any teachers interested in incorporating technology into teaching. I also teach English, to 7th graders.