| By John Anderson 
John Anderson is a biology teacher at Pittsville High
School. He began his teaching career in September of 2000. | One thing that all Wisconsin teachers have in common is that we went through college level education classes in order to get teacher certification. While education professors should be respected for their work and level of dedication to the field, I feel the classes that I took did not fully prepare me for the real world of teaching. Here are a few reasons why: What I heard the professors say: Lecturing and note taking are somewhat antiquated ways of teaching. Textbook reading assignments aren't always the best way to motivate kids. Methods of assessment that involve pencil and paper should be kept to a minimum. Instead, do a variety of hands-on activities because that is how kids really learn. What I found: I agree that most students find hands-on activities more memorable and more fun than reading and writing activities. But the downsides of hands-on work were left out of education classes. For instance, hands-on activities involve materials, and materials cost money. As a first year teacher, I had no part in budget requests and thus had no money set aside for materials. So if I needed box of Q-tips and a few rolls of duct tape, I had to reach for my wallet to get them. The large time requirement of hands-on activities is downplayed as well. It seems like in the real world of teaching, there is much more of a push for quantity rather than quality in curriculum. While it would be nice to mix arts and crafts with science, I also worry that my 10th-grade biology students might miss all of the genetics questions on the WKCE because they’re busy building cells out of modeling clay. Finally, I just feel that leaving the lecture and reading component out of a coursework is just irresponsible because it does not prepare them for college classes. How many college classes did you take that involve glue and cotton balls? I don’t think new teachers should feel guilty if their lesson plans include an actual textbook. What I heard the professors say: Teachers should make maximum use of technology. It doesn’t matter if you are teaching how to tie Velcro shoes to 6th graders over the Internet; if your lesson plans include the words “interactive, multimedia,” and “class Web page, “ you are doing a good job! What I found: While some older teachers may need to be gently pushed to change with the times, I think the pendulum has swung too far. It seems to me that content has sometimes been allowed to become secondary to the use of technology. I heard on the news a few years ago of a junior high class that spent eight weeks on learning to make video commercials. The students learned camera skills, the importance of script, and the art of persuasion. But eight weeks? I assign a written report to all 10th graders, and I see too much poor spelling, faulty syntax and boring, monosyllabic vocabulary. I hate myself for sounding like a crusty old teaching hag, but I think more time should be spent on the basics! What I heard the professors say: Use as many higher-order questions as possible. Make sure that you are asking questions which address the upper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. What I found: Yeah, I can see how higher-order questions do demand a greater level of understanding, but they are not without problems. For instance, I try to include a few higher-order questions on my tests but often find myself facing irate students the next day. Their complaints can be summed up in the following statement: “We didn’t cover this stuff in class.” I would like to respond to such whining by saying, “I was hoping you’d be smart enough to figure it out for yourself based on what we did cover.” I do not, of course, but I have a tough time responding to such comments. Other sticky issues come up with the grading of higher-order questions. Can a student ever be wrong on a question that starts with "theorize why…" If a student is asked to “summarize,” at what point do you take off points for not having enough detail? I have to admit that when faced with the prospect of grading 60 papers, I lean heavily on multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions so that I have at least a little time left over for sleeping at night. What I heard the professors say: Be prepared to deal with a lot of classroom problems related to racism, sexism, homophobia, and misunderstandings about cultural diversity. What I found: I realize that I teach in a small high school in central Wisconsin, but it seems the impact of cultural issues - at least here - were over-emphasized in education classes. The majority of my classroom problems have to do with students who are nice and fairly open-minded but lack skills in common courtesy. I think if there were more manners and less testosterone in my classroom, you’d never see a frown. This column was not written to vilify academic types who have more education than I do. With nothing more than a “B.S.” behind my name, it’s not like I’m an expert. And many aspects of teaching cannot be taught in college. Can anybody really teach you how to react when a 17 year old tells you to “get bent?” Is there a set of instructions somewhere on how to deal with kids' reactions to bodily gases in the classroom? The professors may do their best, but they certainly see the classroom from a different perspective than most teachers do. Return to New Teachers page Posted March 27, 2006 |