I believe that all students can achieve and learn. Am I naive or idealistically ignorant?
What about students with clear disabilities and deficits?
Great teachers believe in the student more that the student believes in himself. The teacher transfers that confidence, trust and vision to the student. The teacher responds to the potential completeness within every child. The student begins to see himself through the eyes of the teacher as far above what he thought. This can only come from love. A great teacher must love the student enough to sacrificially speak the truth about who that student can be to the student at a time when the student has never conceived of that possibility. Without vision, people perish. Without a visionary teacher, the fullness of each student cannot be accomplished.
Biblical principles for teaching: Matthew 18 - Never confront a student's wrongdoing in front of others.
Speak the truth in love: Always give the students the true facts about their achievement level. Never artificially praise a student.
Praise the character traits, not the inherent features of a child. Saying, Wow, you are persistent. builds the child's persistence. Saying, Wow, your hair is so black and shiny, builds the child's weakness of gaining status from lesser things which will not last.
I have several disabled students in my own family.
I see them as complete. Why? Because God created them spiritually whole and complete for his purposes. I can trust in their ultimate purpose and significance on this earth, whether or not they can spell well or perform math. In a classroom, these subjects are the grist for the making of the man. These are not the man. An education is the art and science of making a good man, one who is good for himself and good for others in society. A Christian education is the art and science of making a godly man, whole and complete in good works, selflessly giving his all for the Glory of God.
Tonight I was inspired by TEACH, the documentary on Channel 11. Can I handle a pubic school classroom? Yes, I can.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Introductions - Interactive learning
Welcome to my blogspace! My name is Mollie Shaw and I would love to share my experiences and materials with you. I have taught public, private and home school since 1984 and have particularly experimented on my own six children using a variety of classical and christian materials. My passion is curriculum: How does it work and why? What kinds of students respond best to different kinds of curriculum? How can I change the curriculum to get the greatest benefit for my student(s)?
My daughter, Elizabeth, has spina bifida and learning disabilities. Wow, did I learn a huge amount about how kids learn, and don't learn, from my first few years working with her in K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade! I graduated with a degree in Education, but nothing I learned in college addressed the challenges this precious child, who worked so hard and made so little progress, faced. After teaching her at home through eighth grade, we decided to place her in the public high school. On her first day of class, she sat in the Social Studies classroom in her wheelchair, accompanied by her aid. The teacher asked, "Who can recite the presidents?" Elizabeth slowly raised the only hand in the room. We celebrated that evening that God had shown her that she knew as much as the other kids and that she could feel confident that she would do well in this new school.
The best trick for Elizabeth was lots of talking and singing. She could remember anything that we talked and laughed about together. She was an interactive learner. If she heard it, she could remember it, but if she mentally processed it by explaining it back to me and asking lots of questions, then she truly comprehended it. Some days we had to talk about it all over again, because little pieces of the concept would just seem to drop out of the complete picture during the night, but eventually she would connect the synapses to the point where she could build the next lesson on top of it.
My daughter, Elizabeth, has spina bifida and learning disabilities. Wow, did I learn a huge amount about how kids learn, and don't learn, from my first few years working with her in K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade! I graduated with a degree in Education, but nothing I learned in college addressed the challenges this precious child, who worked so hard and made so little progress, faced. After teaching her at home through eighth grade, we decided to place her in the public high school. On her first day of class, she sat in the Social Studies classroom in her wheelchair, accompanied by her aid. The teacher asked, "Who can recite the presidents?" Elizabeth slowly raised the only hand in the room. We celebrated that evening that God had shown her that she knew as much as the other kids and that she could feel confident that she would do well in this new school.
The best trick for Elizabeth was lots of talking and singing. She could remember anything that we talked and laughed about together. She was an interactive learner. If she heard it, she could remember it, but if she mentally processed it by explaining it back to me and asking lots of questions, then she truly comprehended it. Some days we had to talk about it all over again, because little pieces of the concept would just seem to drop out of the complete picture during the night, but eventually she would connect the synapses to the point where she could build the next lesson on top of it.
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