“It’s not what is poured into a student, but what is planted.” Linda Conway I believe the teacher’s role is to give children the tools to grow their own gardens of knowledge. The educator should plant the seed that develops into a love for Christ and learning. The teacher’s warmth and compassion will nurture the “seeds” to grow and succeed in the classroom as students.
To nurture the seed to grow, the teacher has to fulfill many additional responsibilities including: facilitator, counselor, researcher, learner, observer, janitor, messenger, cook, and problem-solver. These roles are ever changing because of the diversity of the students. It is up to the teacher to accommodate the differences in order for each child to be successful in his or her learning.
I believe an important role as an educator is to keep the family included in a child’s learning experiences at school. I have an open door policy and parents are always welcome in my classroom. I also keep open lines of communication and invite parents to visit with me before or after school, through messenger and telephone calls. Our school also has a weekly newsletter and I have a private Facebook page where I like to share photos and highlights from our room.
In my classroom, the students are challenged as active learners through content organized themes, integrated units, projects, group work , individual work , and hands on learning. l prepare and facilitate an environment that provides interesting, challenging, and fun choices for my students.
Teaching provides an opportunity for continual learning and growth. One of my hopes as an educator is to plant the seed that develops into a love of Christ and a love of learning in my students. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6