Many times in my teaching experience I wondered what is a good teaching? Does a good teaching exist or is it all about methods that if we follow the lesson might be boring? In chapter 1 of the Woolfolk textbook there are some pretty good answers towards this approach. The debating terms of if a teacher is "a sage on the stage" or the "the guide by side" pg. 9 shows that teacher must be ready for all challenges and use successful strategies that will bring results into their classrooms. Personally, in the classrooms I taught I was the guide by the side. I do not recall my self sitting on my desk and teach from my chair. On the contrary, I was always moving in the classroom, helping my students who needed attention and explain to students who were lost. There are teachers though with a different style who do not have to move and be by the side of the students and they bring results. My sister told me so many times about her Spanish teacher that taught her students so well and they all learned how to speak Spanish while she never moved from her desk. Although it is hard for me to ponder upon her style, the teacher's strategies proved successful since her students learned.
The above debating teaching styles made me give a special attention to the role of Psychology in the classroom today. Someone needs to examine very closely certain behaviors in the education process. Many questions of the environment that engages teachers, students, parents, and the time and place used fro instruction are answered by research. When we think that the answer is obvious, research might shows us differently. According the Wollfolk textbook, someone might think that educational psychologists make research for something that is already known to us but this not the case. (pg. 15). Like any other professionals, educational psychologists spend time to gather important information and to examine the results of their research that sometimes might take a lot of time. By using research we better understand learning. A good example is the NCLB Act that is using tests to measure the progress of students. If students in the schools did not progress according to the tests, a reevaluation would take place in order for students to learn. In my personal experience when I taught Math at a Charter school in Florida, students were under a lot of stress and teachers imposed a lot of pressure to their students in order to succeed. The results were astonishing but the cost was big too.
What I really liked by reading the chapter is the key factors that support learning. About 150 studies have come down to student personal factors and school and social-contextual factors. The board on pg. 23 helped me clarify a lot of information that I had in my mind. Most of these examples that are written on the board, I follow them. What is the most important when reading this example is the positive qualities of these practices in order to bring results. Personally what I struggle with is the Social- Familial Influences. During my teaching experience I had parents who wanted to be involved but they had a misconception of how to be involved. They were not really cooperative and that did not help the student. I tried to be supportive in order for students to learn. Sometimes I had good results but some other times not. In any case we learn thorough our experience and we can combine theory and practice in order to get results.
The above debating teaching styles made me give a special attention to the role of Psychology in the classroom today. Someone needs to examine very closely certain behaviors in the education process. Many questions of the environment that engages teachers, students, parents, and the time and place used fro instruction are answered by research. When we think that the answer is obvious, research might shows us differently. According the Wollfolk textbook, someone might think that educational psychologists make research for something that is already known to us but this not the case. (pg. 15). Like any other professionals, educational psychologists spend time to gather important information and to examine the results of their research that sometimes might take a lot of time. By using research we better understand learning. A good example is the NCLB Act that is using tests to measure the progress of students. If students in the schools did not progress according to the tests, a reevaluation would take place in order for students to learn. In my personal experience when I taught Math at a Charter school in Florida, students were under a lot of stress and teachers imposed a lot of pressure to their students in order to succeed. The results were astonishing but the cost was big too.
What I really liked by reading the chapter is the key factors that support learning. About 150 studies have come down to student personal factors and school and social-contextual factors. The board on pg. 23 helped me clarify a lot of information that I had in my mind. Most of these examples that are written on the board, I follow them. What is the most important when reading this example is the positive qualities of these practices in order to bring results. Personally what I struggle with is the Social- Familial Influences. During my teaching experience I had parents who wanted to be involved but they had a misconception of how to be involved. They were not really cooperative and that did not help the student. I tried to be supportive in order for students to learn. Sometimes I had good results but some other times not. In any case we learn thorough our experience and we can combine theory and practice in order to get results.
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