MacBeth Glog

Why is STEM relevant to me?

Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education is important to me as a future English teacher because if my students don't have proper reading comprehension and writing skills, they can't go on to pursue careers in any of those fields. I attended a conference recently at South Alabama about these subjects and the importance of emphasizing them in the curriculum. One of the speakers pointed out that in the United States we expect everyone to read, but when it comes to math, some people just "don't have the gift." It's completely inexcusable that we take this attitude towards this side of the curriculum in our schools. We should push our students hard so that our country can remain a world leader. The way to do this is to emphasize STEM learning in schools and it starts with giving students a passion for the subjects and the proper tools to succeed in them.

Respect: Demand or Give?

Some people say that you should demand respect from your students. I think that you should always start by giving them respect. When they see that you're willing to treat them like an adult (this is at a high school level) then they're more willing to cooperate with you in the classroom. Most of the time, that is the case.

However, when you are giving a student respect and they are choosing not to reciprocate, that is when you demand it, or rather, command it. You are the teacher. You are in control in that moment. You do not need to yell or shout in order to get them under control. You simply tell them what is expected of them and see it through.

The Best Teacher Ever

The best teacher I ever had was my mom. I was homeschooled for grades 2-5 & 9. She was so creative and she made learning fun. Her philosophies about education inspired me to become a teacher. She also homeschooled my brother and my sister. She always chose to put us in the best possible situation for our education and gave us the support we needed.

Every year, we had a theme for our classroom. One year we studied Native Americans and another year we studied the Great Lakes. We would do a full immersion into the subject. We learned geography and history and we learned about culture.

Every Friday was reading day. She would take us to the library and we would read all day. She set up a fort for each of us and would bring us snacks so we could read in comfort.

She was creative with our physical education too. She put us in sports and dance classes and hired physical trainers. She made us each learn to play the piano and at least one other instrument.

During the summer, she would enter us into reading contests at the library to challange us and keep our academic levels up during the summer. We were usually the kids who had read the most books.

I want to be a teacher more than anything because of my mom--the best teacher I ever had.

Worst Teacher Ever?

During this semester of student teaching, I want to respond to a series of questions that they handed us on orientation day. I feel that this will be a good exercise in self-discovery.

The first question is:
If a student said she thought you were the worst teacher she ever had, what would you say?

Actually, something similar to this happened during a lesson I taught once. I was trying to teach 10th graders summarizing skills. I thought I would make it fun by having them trace their hand and write the main idea on the palm and the supporting details on their fingers. I had the class reading magazine articles for this assignment. Most of the class was confused by the project and I had to repeat my directions several times. Finally, one girl said: "You're a bad teacher."

My heart fell. Those were words I never wanted to hear from a student. I had worked so hard to make an activity that wasn't boring or routine and she had thrown it up in my face like it was filth. I scowled at her and told her she was rude and to continue working.

I went home and thought about the lesson that afternoon. She was rude to say it. But I needed to have more classroom management and preparation in order to pull that lesson off.

Of course my response to a student calling me a bad teacher would vary on circumstance, but I think that my initial reaction would be to reflect on my behavior and the lessons I had planned and think about whether they were meeting the needs of my students.