Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Humility
Collaborativeness
Reflectiveness
Inventiveness/Creativity
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Passion
first get it right and when they first fall in love with his favorite subject.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Authenticity
Authenticity is one of the ways in which we demonstrate trustworthiness. Authenticity is a way of putting trust into action with integrity, sincerity, reliability and transparent, genuine intentions. We often talk about how trust and stability are key in a successful classroom, but it is often difficult to define how we as teachers bring these things into our classroom. I believe that authenticity is crucial to building a trusting, safe, stable environment to learn in. If a teacher is clear about their expectations and then follows through, they create reliability. Most importantly, if a teacher has a genuine interest in the success of their students then they will automatically display authenticity. If students learn by example, then give them an example worth emulating and learning from.
I have never considered the boundaries and lines that could or should be drawn for authenticity. It had never occurred to me that there could be such a thing as too authentic. Can a person be too genuine? Or have too much integrity? Can sincerity be overwhelming or reliability be detrimental? Personally I do not believe that you can be too authentic. I do not believe that there are boundaries that need to be placed on authenticity in the classroom. Many of the problems that occur in the classroom are based on a lack of trust, and genuine intentions, but those are both key components in being an authentic individual.
"Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.” - Mother Theresa
"No legacy is so rich as honesty.” - Shakespeare
“Authentic values are those by which a life can be lived, which form a people that produces great deeds and thoughts.” -Allan Bloom
Compassion
If respect is the foundation of all successful relationships, then compassion is the demonstration, or manifestation, of that respect. Everyone, student and teacher alike, has their insecurities, whether they are feelings of loneliness, mediocrity, ignorance or inadequacy. Compassion helps fill the void that self-doubt creates. Compassion is the way in which we relate to, and validate each other and it helps us connect in ways that go beyond an everyday, passive acquaintance. It is our ability to consider a perspective other than our own. This is a critical disposition for us to posses because as people, particularly as teachers, we are continually exposed to personalities that clash with our own. However, effective teachers are able to see beyond the clash to the person, the motives, the dynamic individual that each of their students is.
When I was in junior high, a trying time for any young person, I had the good fortune of having Mrs. Kay Yanecek for my homeroom teacher. She was a truly remarkable woman, with a liberal approach to education and an old world class. I do not know what it was, if she always went to such great lengths to help her students, or if something about me in particular seemed to call out to her for understanding, but she reached out to me and offered me friendship when I had never felt more alone. Some people are naturally charismatic, and they make friends easily, but I was not one of those people, so the transition from elementary school to junior high was a difficult one for me to make. I felt like the only one who had liked things the way they were, and who didn’t feel ready to “move on and meet new people”. Mrs. Yanecek was a blessing, both in the nerve-wracking first weeks and then throughout the entirety of my time there. In the mornings, she would meet me at my locker to talk to me about simple things like my family, or my homework, or to compliment me on something I was wearing. She kept up with my class work, often telling me that she had heard from so-and-so that I had done particularly well on a test and passing on her congratulations. She kept a collection of newspaper articles that featured me pinned up around her room as well as little mementos that I had given her. When I was feeling particularly self-conscious about my body shape, with out my telling her anything, she pointed to one of the articles hanging on her wall (with a picture of me on it) and casually began talking about how pleasing she found the shape of me face, and the warmth of my eyes and smile. With out fail, she kept me feeling buoyed and loved on the days that I was closest to feeling lost and alone. Her compassion was invaluable to me and has continued to shape me through the intervening years.
"The value of compassion cannot be over-emphasized. Anyone can criticize. It takes a true believer to be compassionate. No greater burden can be borne by an individual than to know no one cares or understands."-Arthur H. Stainback
"The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.” -Thomas Merton"
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." -The Dalai Lama