watch an inspirational teacher and weep a little

[BadDog]

dont apply mascara before watching

OK bad dog. But you must be, to think that commenting, no matter how indirectly on a mis type is being some how clever. I bet you would go down really well as an inspirational teacher with that approach.

The teacher is making the point that real life is more important than the classroom, and learning only has much value as your ability to apply it practically in real life...

Can we move this on a fraction? using Bonsoirs comment of what she considered to be the point . I wonder howmany of his pupils got that point from his teaching? or did they just get it was a bit of fun ? or did they miss it all completely - did they take anything to reallife from their experience in fact?

My experience ( I know many do not like this kind of argument , neither do I but there is little elese out there in the academic word on this) is that with whizzy bang bang teaching of what looks to melikelittle real substance, many pupils fail tofind the main focus or concentrate on the point and often you
(or in the case of the "inspirational" ones) someone else has to go back and pick it out and make it for them because they fail to see it for themselves.

Too often I have had to pick upthe bits when someone has used these methods and have to explain what was missed in the fun and games.

( I suppose that makes Ronaldo a dull boy, but at least I am a dull boy whose pupils get good results and understand what they have been taught and can think and explain it back to me and in exams).

But you saw a FRACTION of what he does, he might have endless stats showing improvements, targets, great marking. That was not the point, we are showing how his homelife and probably just his nature make him someone kids rate and feel they learn from.

You seem very very concerned that someone might engage in active teaching! All talk and chalk Ronald?

and you and your picking up the bits

what a martyr.

I suspect that he does not teach like that every lesson, not least because the phsyical and mental demands would be huge.

Most teachers have a pick and mix approach to teaching. Sometimes I am wacky, ( although I do not allow children to crack slabs of concrete on my chest) and other times I do a bit of chalk and talk, more often I am somewhere in the middle.

Entertainment and education are not the same thing. Whizzing up and down the corridor is obviously entertaining, but there needs to be a lesson too.

I'm a maths teacher and when I see science demos like that with explosions and whatnot I think 'blimey, my lessons are really dull'. However what I've found works best as a teaching style for me is going through a series of examples and questions with the kids, getting progressively harder, which the kids get a sense of achievement out of when they get them right.

In fact at 6:40 he is just talking to them calmly and he has them eating out of the palm of his hand because he is talking from the very moving experience of his son.

Maureen ( I will refrain from using the lastpart of your name as it is not a nice word is it?). Since I have not said anything about my personal teaching methods ( which might be an interesting extension of this particular thread( you are in no position to pass judegment on me.

I use what ever methods ( in the plural ) are suitatable for the individuals I am teaching, the subject I am teaching and my own personality. I have many stats which show my methods have produced improvement in student achievement and just to show I must get something right, at A level my classes are very popular and my drop out rates very low ( sometimes I dont have any drop out at all) and my results - well pretty good even if I do say it.

( I teach mixed ability and a non selective school)

edutainment

sorry about the joined wordsand typo's. Keyboard still missing in parts. Yeah - I need a new one, have done for a while now.

Thats another thing one might want to discuss -how much personal information should one give. I toocan have kids eating out of my hand if I talk about myselfand my homelife ( anything is better than a lesson innit?) . The thing is, I dont do that.

The thing is that to reach a high level in any given academic subject, you will need to spend a long time engaging with material that is not entertaining and teenagers need to learn to deal with this reality; it often takes a long hard slog before you can appreciate the beauty and interest of a complex field. It looks as if this teacher is setting these kids up to expect to be entertained at every moment in their lives - see the poor attitude they display towards the rest of their teachers.

The thing is that to reach a high level in any given academic subject, you will need to spend a long time engaging with material that is not entertaining and teenagers need to learn to deal with this reality; it often takes a long hard slog before you can appreciate the beauty and interest of a complex field. It looks as if this teacher is setting these kids up to expect to be entertained at every moment in their lives - see the poor attitude they display towards the rest of their teachers

I agree absolutely. Pretty well sums up the problem I think. Good post.

But he may not be setting them up to be entertained every moment of their lives, this is probably a snippet of what he does.

I use my own experience when it is relevant, again you saw him talking for a few minutes, probably out of a one hour lesson.

You can't judge the learning in that video.

We routinely blow things up in Science. Methane bubbles are a pretty standard demo. If you saw an edited highlights of most Science teachers, you'd see stuff like that. And I'm no maverick. Nor does anyone have to pick up the pieces after me. What you wouldn't see in my edited highlights is all the other things I do to make sure students know and can apply their Science. And see its relevance. I never want to hear a child ask "why do we need to learn science".

I agree that the reason they love him is because he engages on a personal level. And he teaches it would seem in a school where that personal engagement can be a huge driver in changing students' attitudes and motivation.

Bonsoir

So we are basing the fact that he is an inspirational teacher on the fact that he has a severly disabled child at home?

In that case is he anymore inspirational than team hoyt --- ?

Hmm. He is clearly a wonderful teacher. Great though he clearly is, and I have admiration for him, I have mixed feelings about this. I don't know if it does children and colleagues a huge amount of favours. Other, perfectly good and competent, teachers are then in danger of being labelled dull in comparison. Sometimes learning is not inspirational - you have to doggedly slog at it. I am absolutely not being a killjoy by saying this. There are many good and great teachers who will not want to give out personal information about their lives to their pupils just to get them to engage. I am very much old school admittedly, in that I believe teachers should automatically receive respect unless they do something to squander that, rather than the modern trend of respect needing to be earned. I'm also very about the "Why can't all teachers be like this?" brigade.

But fair play to him. He does a great job and physics does need to be made more interesting if we are to keep up innovation and progress. That's the main consideration I think.

I can usually find something interesting and engaging in any topic that I cover. I love my subjects. That's why I teach them. Some are hard, and a slog for that reason, but still amazing though. And my students get that I find them amazing, and comment on that, even if sometimes they don't necessarily agree...

The original point I was trying to make is that we don't see enough of his teaching to see if he is a good teacher. He is clearly an inspirational and personable man, but that doesn't automatically translate to being a fantastic teacher.

Inspirational man, yes. Inspirational teacher? Maybe, maybe not.

I think that sharing about life with a disabled kid is a great lesson for kids to learn bearing in mind SOME peoples attitudes to disabled people. ANd that life isnt always how you expect it. Better than some dull PHSE lesson.

FWIW I think american teachers are far more part of the community than in the UK, not distant people that no one knows.

To what extent do they have to follow a curriculum? I mean, I need to make sure my students know about Newton's Laws of motion...

Teaching is so complex and what works for on doesn't work for another. Years ago I inadvisedly decided to give up my day job and pursue my dream and turn my serious hobby (a very complicated sport) from amateur to professional and compete at a high level. My coach/teacher was from the Carl Rogers school of communicating information. He rarely spoke leaving me to work it out for my self only interjecting in desperation when my incompetence became too much. Friends impressed with my considerable improvement quickly engaged the same coach/teacher and many were disappointed "he never says anything" was the common complaint. On another occassion we all attended a master class with a well know coach I hated every minute of it he never stopped talking and telling me what to do at every step of full of demonstrations and "helpful" anecdotes other friends loved it and found it "inspiring."
I suspect that this teacher works for these children but may not work for all.

thats interesting. I think it is important for anyone to keep learning and to find out what different new techniques motivate them.
I even learn from the blinking exercise classes I do