My Second Blog... Ever

Your guiding principles as an English/Language Arts Educator...

My principles fluctuate from time to time. I can say today they are skewed by student apathy. Before teaching I was trained mentally to believe that everything that goes on in a classroom was the teacher's responsibility. I was trained to think that Teacher's mindset led to teacher actions which led to student actions which finally led to student achievement. I do not think this is total garbage, but I do feel that this logic (aka Academic Impact Model) can kill a teacher. Being brainwashed to think this forced me to spend countless hours beating myself up about how terrible I was at teaching based of student achievement. This impact model used to be my guideline until about 2 months ago.

For the most part, the Academic Impact Model makes sense and should be a general reminder to teachers. But to think that all blame points to a teacher is harsh. I believe that students have their own logic or model to live by, and when both student and teacher are in sync than student achievement occurs.

Ultimately, when I take stage in the classroom, plan lessons, or do anything school related, I truly only live by one creed - and that is give it my best because that is what Jesus asks of me.

Thanks for reading.