Bill -
"Tour Guide" - I like that! This is a Regional Occupation Program, so I
think that the students are jr and sr HS students. I am supposed to have
another group of young adults down the road, but for now HS students.
Oh, and for the earlier poster, I got the olive drab apron from Duluth
Trading. They've been sending me catalogs for YEARS, and the apron -
aprons - I ordered TWO.... came today.
http://www.duluthtrading.com/items/83490.asp
I went through the ROP program here, I wasn't a "special needs" anything....
I just wanted to be a mechanic... and the instructor I had was a gem. I got
more common sense information and smarts in that classroom than I did from
*ALL* my perfessers in college (no slight intended, it's just how it is).
I am really looking forward to getting going! Thanks for your remarks -
mind if I pester you from time to time??
John Moorhead
PS: I expect the kids will have a real ball with my last name. I'm just
glad my first name isn't Richard.
"Anonymous" wrote in message
news
an.2005.03.03.22.23.46.91415@notarealserver. com...
On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 13:16:35 -0800, Teamcasa wrote:
Good luck in this endeavor. Teaching was a very rewarding time for me.
Kids are way smarter than the administration gives them credit for.
Properly challenge them and watch them rise to it.
Dave
I agree. I taught adult education for 3 years to high-school dropouts.
These people had been told all their lives just exactly how stupid they
were.
You've never seen a trout rise to a fly the way these people rose to the
challenges I set in front of them (480 class room hours).
Tell your students that you were told that they wouldn't understand the
parts of a circle or what to do with them. Then promise that, if they
follow your lead, they'll know more about circles, triangles and lines
than the kids taking geometry class will. Then set out to make good on
your threats. Get a current issue geometry book and, as you go, let the
students know what page they are on when they calculate an area, find a
center from a chord, use a protractor to construct an angle and make it
fit its complement. Show them how to set up a compound angle and drill it
to a predetermined depth. Show them the math and show them the results and
make them do BOTH on their own.
Challenge them. Hard.
You didn't tell us their ages or grade level but I strongly urge you to
push them beyond the limits you might think reasonable. Likely as not,
they'll amaze you. Wake them up to the fact that you only record their
grades ... the wood actually gives them -- the evidence of learning is
accomplishment.
Somewhere mid-course you'll begin to see lights flickering and then
getting solidly turned on and you'll stop being a teacher and become a
tour guide.
That's the part I liked the best. Tour guide.
Best job I've ever had ... bar none.
Bill