An Analysis Of Parker J. Palmer

Rita Pierson has discovered a way to incorporate positive reinforcement without setting her students up to fail. During her speech, she offers personal experience to help support her theory that acknowledging the correct answers over incorrect answer can lead to confidence building in a pupil’s self-esteem and creating a trustful human connection with the student. Rita offers a comfortable and wisdom providing argument wrapped in a presentation that shows passion for how teachers and student relationship should be. Her over all demeanor has the audience listening, learning and engaging as she shares her beliefs with a passionate smile on her face. To top off the speech she adds some comedic relief that encourages the connections with her listeners. The room was set in a lecture classroom like setting with Rita being highlighted. Everyone looking down at Rita as she presents her argument about human connections and positive criticism in today’s classrooms.

One of the historical figures I admire the most is General William Jackson Palmer. General Palmer was born in 1836 in Delaware. He would go on to become “A civil engineer, Civil War soldier, owner and co-founder of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, philanthropist” (historycolorado.org). During the Civil War, he quickly became a young general and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. After relocating to Denver, his railroad success was only part of the impact he had on the Colorado frontier. He founded Colorado Springs with a Utopian vision in mind, and enforced a level of morality that was rarely seen in Colorado at that time. He would go on to establish organizations and buildings that aided the sick, supported and encouraged

At first, she claims, she was only “a little mass of possibilities,” but her teacher brought light into her life (1). Her teacher, from the very beginning, was more than just an instructor. She was a positive influence and an inspiration. She taught Keller to communicate and understand the world around her, even though she could not see or hear it. She did not force Keller’s mind to learn; she simply guided it, nourishing it with knowledge at the right moments (7-8). In this way, her teacher made learning enjoyable for Keller by ensuring she did not think of it as an obligation, but as an experience. This goes along with Keller’s belief that a student “will not work joyously unless he feels that liberty is his” (16). A student who feels that she has the power to make her own decisions will enjoy her schooling more than one who feels as if the power is out of her hands. The relationship between Keller and her teacher had a profound impact on the way Keller learned and later lived her life. Even once her school days had passed, she still felt the effects of her teacher’s instruction every day. She even went so far as to say that she felt her teacher’s being was “inseparable” from her own (22). Keller’s unusually intimate connection with her teacher offered a unique perspective on the topic of teacher-student relationships.

While reading Journal 1 of The Alternative and reflecting on the assignment giving, memories of teachers flooded through my mind. I am unabashed to admit that I believed some teachers to be poor at their job, and have more than once thought that perhaps this wasn’t the correct career path for them. One such teacher was my 7th and 8th grade science teacher, who believed public shaming to be the preferable way of teaching adolescents. When a student would answer a question wrong in class he couldn’t help but laugh as well as bring it up throughout the lesson, refusing to let the student move past their mistake. He chose to

Sometimes throughout history, events in real life happen that far exceed the story lines of novels and even some of the far-fetched movie plots. In order to keep from producing boring documentaries and to avoid confinement to a set script in history, screenwriters and directors often combine numerous true events into a new creation that only resembles or loosely portrays real life. These combined scenes can come from all different areas, countries, and even times. All in the name of entertainment and without having to be historically accurate. Early in 2000, the filmmakers out of Hollywood, California, created a film titled “The Patriot.” It was originally released as a fictional film for entertainment, but reiterated that it was loosely based on some historical events, but was still fictional, after attack from numerous historians. “The Patriot” portrays Benjamin Martin, a South Carolinian plantation owner, and his exploits for survival after the Revolutionary War forces its way into his family. His use of guerrilla warfare tactics closely resembles the real life fighting style of

The first thing I will talk about in this book is the positive and negative effects of physical contact with your students. Michie, the main character, was in an incident where he was accused of touching a student inappropriately. Although the truth was revealed that he didn’t do what he was accused of, it shows how physical contact with a student can have a negative impact on a teacher’s career. Even though Michie was merely trying to console a person, children look for attention in any way they can find. This incident nearly cost Michie his job, but at the same time, a big part of teaching is showing the kids you care for them. Michie believes it is hard to care for people if you keep them at arm’s length, and I agree. Physical contact is an

These conditions lead to several roles in the classroom that can cause trouble like leaders, clowns, fall guys, and instigators. Redl and Wattenberg's contributions helped teachers work more effectively with students by pointing out humans behave differently in groups than individually. They also provided the first well-organized, systematic approach to improving behavior in the classroom. Redl and Wattenberg (1959) suggested that educators support students' self-control from the position that individuals can be responsible for controlling their own conduct. Much misbehavior results from a temporary lapse of an individual's control system, rather than from a desire to be disagreeable. To mold students' behavior, teachers can use the pleasure-pain principle, in which they deliberately provide experiences to produce a range of pleasant to unpleasant feelings. Redl and Wattenberg emphasize, however, that the pleasure-- pain principle does not mean that a teacher, in the heat of anger, should lash out at a student. Likewise, pain or punishment should not take the form of revenge (Redl & Wattenberg, 1959). Another theory is B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), where

An American psychiatrist by the name of William Glasser once stated, “When you study great teachers…you will learn much more from their caring and hard work than from their style.” Teachers are a huge part of an individual’s life. From the time a person enters into preschool until the complete cessation of their educational career, the teachers and professors along the way each influence that student’s perspective and feeling towards the particular subject they taught. With daily interactions, teachers become a part of a student’s microsystem. They are often times the only other constant adult figure in their student’s life apart from the caregiver. Whether it is acknowledged or not, the importance of teacher cannot be overstated. Unfortunately,

One thing I learned about fear is that it can basically act for us. With fear humans can make critical decisions that they wouldn’t dare make without fear edging them on. A story that particularly shocked me was the story of a young woman named Kelly. She followed her

In “To Teach the journey of a teacher” by William Ayers different teaching styles are introduced. The book teaches us that nobody is a perfect teacher. A couple myths from the book include time management is essential to teaching and you learn everything you need to know about teaching in college. Everyone will have off days when they are teaching and it is not going to go perfectly. Also, you cannot really understand teaching until you are actually in a classroom experiencing it for yourself. School may teach you basic skills and situations that you may encounter, but it is not real until you actually experience a crisis for yourself. Some other myths in the book are all teachers treat their students the same and all students will perform above average. Children come from all different backgrounds and start school in different places. There is no way that teachers can treat every single student the same and ensure that they will all be above average. Overall the book was full of myths that show what other people think of teachers.

The first lesson that many people like is how all classrooms are run by fear (Esquith, 6.) Students usually remember the first day of each grade; they are usually scared to death of the teacher. They would be scared, mainly because of the things they had recently heard about the teacher, or the way the teacher was acting. However, what Rafe tries to portray is that not only the students have fear, but the teachers also have fear. All students are afraid of change. A new teacher, a new grade, and new material they have to learn. Students are also afraid they are going to get in trouble or they are afraid of failure. Believe it or not teachers are also fearful. They are more fearful of not knowing the material they have to

“that an effective classroom, must create a sense of belonging, foster mutual respect and trust and that the classrooms must be absent of fear. According to Rafe, “Level 1 thinking is based on fear. Eventually we want our children to behave well not because they fear punishment but because they believe it is right” ( 15).

I learned quickly that being an effective teacher is an art that takes time and devotion. Many times, teachers are not provided with the necessary materials in order to maintain the various learning styles in a classroom. It is up to the teacher to create an environment where students can succeed. This is a full time job, meaning that a teacher’s work is not done once they leave the school. A teacher must contribute a significant amount of time and effort in order to see positive results in the school and in his or her own classroom. After observing my cooperating teacher’s strategies and learning more about the profession, I knew that I was going in the right direction with my life. I took a significant amount of knowledge away from this experience and have continued to strive to be the type of educator that I was blessed to work with during this experience. .

As children, we absorb information and learn from experiences that mold us into who we are. Many individuals impact a child’s life, but the most powerful and influential role lies in a devoted teacher, a teacher provides growth to students as a gardener would to a garden of flowers. Each child can bloom into a thriving flower so long as you water their garden with optimism, love, patience, and guidance. Throughout my educational experiences I was lucky enough to have educators who poured their knowledge and optimism into me, and now I would like to reciprocate that back to students who are in the position I was once in. Balancing life and school is hard enough for a student, but a powerful and caring teacher can steer you in the right direction. In this autobiography you will read about my educational background, experiences that influenced my decision to become a teacher, and what I believe the role of a teacher should be in a student’s life.

When I think about teachers that I have had in the past, several different ones come to my mind. Each of these educators stands out in my mind for a variety of diverse reasons. Whether it is their sense of humor, their tactfulness, their love of the subject matter, their fanatical and sporadic behavior, or their yearning to be childish themselves, I can still remember at least one quality of every teacher I have ever encountered. Every one of these teachers conveyed subject material to their students just as they were educated and employed to do. However, I trust that every professional in the world has an abundance of opportunity for improvement; teachers could discover and improve themselves merely by having