The Best Advice Ever for Teachers

Charles McGuire, Diana Abitz

• Verlag: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
• Jahr: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780740786853
• Thema: Pedagogía
• Thema: Teoría y práctica de la educación

A collection of the best thoughts, ideas, methods, and wisdom on teaching, from educators past and present. This book blends the observations of contemporary educators with words of wisdom from teachers of the past in a collection that is sure to engage and inspire anyone in the teaching profession. Featured educators include Plutarch ("The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled"), Robert Louis Stevenson ("To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end in life"), and many others. In addition, award-winning educators from across the U.S. share their insights on a variety of subjects, including responsibility and accountability, self-esteem, comprehension, motivation, and methods of teaching that accommodate various learning styles. This book has something to teach everyone about teaching.

Chapter 1

Spirit of the Teacher

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.

—HORACE MANN (1796–1859), AMERICAN EDUCATOR WHO ESTABLISHED THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Through the ages, teachers have helped to shape and mold the minds of students. There seem to be certain characteristics common to all educators, who have mastered the ability to impart and convey the wisdom of the ages. Combined, those attributes are the spirit of the teacher.

Teachers who take their profession seriously and make subjects come alive are the ones who leave an unforgettable and indelible mark on the student. They impart a way of life. They wear their subject like a favorite coat or sweater. By doing so, the student sees a life lived with purpose, meaning, and passion. When the spirit of the teacher connects with the spirit of the student, the best of the student surfaces and thrives.

When I was in eighth grade, my American history teacher, Mrs. Deets, was so excited by the subject that hardly anyone left her classroom not similarly excited. Her love of our country’s history was evident in the classroom every day. She loved to teach about the Federalist Papers and the division between those who wanted states’ rights and those who wanted a centralized government. It was pretty heady stuff in eighth grade, but it was her passion for the subject that made an impression on me.

—CHERYL BLANCHARD, HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

An understanding heart is everything in a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.

—CARL JUNG (1875–1961), SWISS PSYCHOLOGIST AND CONTEMPORARY OF SIGMUND FREUD

The human spirit is your specifically human dimension and contains abilities other creatures may not have. Every human is spiritual; in fact, spirit is the essence of being human. You have a body that may become ill; you have a psyche that may become disturbed. But the spirit is what you are. It is your healthy core.

—JOSEPH FABRY (1909–1999), AMERICAN WRITER AND PSYCHOLOGIST

Sincerity, or trustworthiness, or the gift of inspiring confidence, should be an intrinsic quality in a teacher. He starts with a great advantage over his students—he is older, more experienced, and therefore presumably wiser than they, and they realize it. If they are certain that his motives are honest and that he is trying his level best, they can overlook his mistakes, provided he does not make too may of them.

—CLAUDE M. FUESS, CREED OF A SCHOOL-MASTER (1939)

People expect teachers to teach. They value lucid exposition, the clear statement of problems and guidance to their solution. Personal qualities of kindness, sympathy, and patience are secondary, appreciated by pupils if they make the teacher more effective in carrying out his primary intellectual task.

—FRANK MUSGROVE AND PHILIP TAYLOR, SOCIETY AND THE TEACHER’S ROLE (1969)

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre.

—GAIL GODWIN, THE ODD WOMEN (1974)

The professor’s journey is one that goes to the edge of the known world. One of the aims of the journey is to push back the boundaries of that world and to discover ways of engaging others in this task and of sharing with them all its mystery and wonder.

—CRAIG KRIDEL, ROBERT V. BULLOUGH, JR., AND PAUL SHAKER, TEACHERS AND MENTORS (1996)

Greatness, whether in the classroom or in day-to-day living, is intentional. Success doesn’t come at once, but over a lifetime. The outs...