Catholic Teacher Had âHit Listâ. An Indiana Catholic school teacher was arrested on Thursday after officials said they found she kept a âkill listâ and threatened her students, according to NBC Chicago. The East Chicago Police Department responded to St. Stanislaus School in the Indiana city bordering Illinois Wednesday evening after a
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These Teacher Day poems and wishes can be used by kids on cards or with gifts. Lessons Are Fun I'm happy you're my teacher; Thanks for all you do. You make learning easy; Your lessons are fun, too! By Joanna Fuchs. Poems for teachers must include short poems from little kids.
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A natural leader, community builder, and teacher, Allie was introduced to the world of holistic health and wellness through the lens of yoga and meditation. After almost 10 years of practice, she received her Yoga Teaching Certification in 2012 from the Association for Yoga and Meditation in India. Since then, she has undergone additional
Vay Tiá»n TráșŁ GĂłp Theo ThĂĄng Chá» Cáș§n Cmnd. Students and teachers alike often believe that the only correct English teacher is a Native English Speaking Teacher NEST or referred to as a Mother Tongue speaker. Sadly, the term doesn't define teachers or their abilities very well. As I'll discuss below, just because you are a native English speaker doesn't equate to better summaryWhy are there not enough native English teachers?What is a native 'English speaker?'Why is a NEST thought as better? Concerns with native English speaker can non-NESTs offer?Why are there not enough native English teachers?The Teaching English as a Foreign Language EFL industry is preparing millions of people globally to speak, read, and write English. To achieve the level required, thousands of teachers and tutors are involved in helping them to do it. If native speaker status is a pre-requisite for teaching, then 80% of the world's English teachers would be considered unqualified to teach yet, many job ads for teachers demand NESTs. How will NESTs serve an industry worth $ billion in 2019?Sadly, we see a growing number of schools and online tutoring platforms that refuse to accept non-native speakers. Is it the case that a teacher's passport is the most essential qualification they will ever get? Yet, in some countries including the UK and the EU, it's illegal to discriminate on nationality when whatâs going on?What is an English native speaker?In several parts of the world, teachers from Malta, Pakistan, India, or South Africa who grew up speaking English are not considered "native speakers." Unfortunately, this translates into a struggle to get visas or work permits as English language teachers. Most accepted internationally-employable English teachers originate from the BANA countries â Britain, Australasia, and North America. Specifically, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the consider all the varieties of English out there, including the local dialects, and the fact that several British English accents are notoriously hard to understand, even for Americans. Merely being a NEST does not mean your English is 'standard,' 'better,' or 'understandable.' Compare that to a non-NEST who may be higher educated and a more high-grade communicator, with a broader vocabulary and crystal clear Oxford English Dictionary would be better?Why is NEST thought of as better?The primary argument is that a native speaker will be a model of the language. That their English will be more idiomatic, the teacher will have a richer vocabulary, and they will use 'the' standard model of pronunciation. Students wishing to live, study, or work in the country their teacher originates from, typically see a native speaker as some role model - how they should act and speak in the said country. Native English Speaking Teachers then are employed to foster high-level communication or writing practices. The idea is that they will have a more comprehensive vocabulary, including both formal and colloquial terms. Below are the two most common issues surrounding teachers and tutorsWhy the obsession with having a native English speaker as an English teacher?Why are students asking, "You must give me a teacher with an Australian/ British/American/Canadian accent?"The underlying theme of the first question is, "I want the best." As we all know, 'the best' can be subjective - is the 'best' knowing more English words or the best at teaching?When choosing an English teacher, the logic seems to be, "If I can't speak English well, then you can't teach it correctly because we are both non-native speakers." It's a cultural issue and not a skills issue. Concerns with native English speaker teachingThe fundamental problem with native English speakers is that they know how to construct sentences but cannot explain why. A fundamental requisite to all language teaching, as no-one can communicate in any language without understanding how its components fit together, aka grammar of a addition to teaching a native speaker grammar and how it forms, non-native speakers sometimes have to correct a native speaker's spelling as well. It's a common symptom. Almost all English education systems teach little or no grammar and prefer content what is written over form how it is written - construction and spelling. Concerning the accent issue, again, this is relative - Britain has a lot of different accents and dialects. Some are reasonably easy to understand; others require a sometimes lengthy learning period. The same with US accents, not all Americans have a Northeast coast or Californian accent; the southern US states are remarkably different. As such, a 'typical' British or American accent is as obscure as a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Students don't seem to quite understand this. Students believe that all Brits speak classic BBC newscaster English or sound like Hugh Grant in some British romcom. That Americans sound like the friends on 'Friends.'Even native English speakers have difficulty understanding the accents of people from other regions within the same non-native English teacher will have an accent that is relative to their mother tongue. However, if they enunciate clearly, write coherently, and form sentences that make sense; why should they be inferior compared to native English speaking teachers?Many non-native English speakers speak perfectly understandable they have an accent, yet so does someone from Boston or LA in the USA; Liverpool, Glasgow or London in the UK. Even in the Blu Mint Digital offices we all communicate in English - Americans, Brits, Estonians, French, Swedish, Swiss - and we ALL sound can Non-NESTS offer?A non-NEST will probably have learned English themselves. They have demonstrable experience in providing greater empathy and more useful first-hand tips. Plus, they have previous experience of the challenges of learning English. Non-native speakers have two guaranteed advantages over native English speakers. Their spelling and understanding of English grammar are usually better. Both of which are skills that are essential for being a good English teacher. As mentioned, they have learned English as a foreign language and, therefore, can relate much more closely to the teaching process. They've lived through the process, whereas a native English speaker hasn' awareness of common language-learning difficulties becomes particularly relevant when teaching students of their own mother tongue. Given the difficulty non-native English speaker teachers can have finding students to teach or employment, they are often the most committed and well-trained teachers you will come across. Greater awareness will lead to more exceptional teaching for allEnglish is now the mostly accepted language of international trade, business, air traffic control, and other prominent international sectors like news and popular culture. Even within the diplomacy sector English is gradually pushing out French. The advancement of English into the international community demands that non-native English speakers learn and adapt to using the most American and British language diehards will acknowledge that language evolves, and this includes mixing both dialects into daily life â whether speaking, content writing, or reading. And this is because of the adoption by non-native speakers that English is now needed could argue, we are all now learning a new, International English, whether native or non-native.
"We all teachers" is certainly not grammatical English. "All us teachers" is acceptable, though analysing why is tricky. You can form a noun phrase from a pronoun+noun placed in apposition We teachers are strong. He gave us teachers a pay rise Us teachers want more! * The meaning in each case is "us, who are teachers". A normal apposition The last example is doubtful, because "Us" appears in the subject, but examples similar to this in considered speech of native speakers do exist. The word "all" functions as a determiner, and it should not be placed in the middle of the apposition. So "We all teachers" is not correct, but "All we teachers" might be ok. All can also be a pronoun, and you can form a noun phrase "All of us teachers". The subject is "All", "of us teachers" has "us teachers" not in the subject position, and so "us" is used in preference to "we". "All us teachers" can be parsed either as a reduction of "All of us teachers" or as a modification of "All we teachers" with us used as the pronoun is not a major part of the subject. If I was speaking I'd prefer "All of us teachers..."
Transcripts 1. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Promo are you a teacher or educator? And you want to learn how to communicate more effectively how to really captivate your classroom? Well, I'm t j Walker and I have been teaching educators and executives, politicians, political leaders all over the world for 30 years on how to speak more effectively. And I'm gonna teach you in this online course the very same techniques I teach a lot of world leaders when they are on the stage and commanding an audience. I'm gonna teach you how to really connect with your students in a more effective, memorable way. If that's what you want, sign up for this course today. 2. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Intro Let's face it, when you think of the best teachers you ever had in grade school, high school, college, graduate school, the best professors, they weren't just people who knew the content the best, although they didn't know that they were great in part because when they spoke about their subject matter, they captivated you. They brought the subject matter toe life. They made you want to pay attention. They made you want to learn. Then that's part of what made them a good teacher. Now it's not the only thing about being a good teacher. Got to be catching inches. You have to conduct tests in the right way. You have to do all sorts of follow up there, a lot of things you have to do. But being great when it comes to lecturing when it comes to actually presenting the information is an important part of teaching. And it's unfortunately not taught that well, it's not taught in a systematic way. That's what we're going to cover right here in this course, not every aspect of how to be a great teacher, but how specifically when you're presenting, you can make your ideas come alive and make your students really understand you and pay attention. So that's we're gonna focus on right now. 3. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Any Subject Can be Interesting and any Subje The first thing we really have to clarify is there is no such thing as an academic subject that's inherently interesting or boring. It's really about how you present it. If you're a teacher and educator, a professor, you've seen boring lectures on every subject. You've probably seen interesting lectures on certain subjects, even subjects that didn't interest you. Classic example is Monty Python's movie The Meaning of Life. John Cleese is portraying a boring, pompous professor is at an all boys school, and he's lecturing them about sex. He's even bringing out his wife and they demonstrate. But he's so boring and tedious the way he lectures that the boys won't pay attention. They're doing spitballs talking. They're bored out of their minds, and they're talking about a subject that is inherently interesting. Two young teenage boys so you can make any subject whatsoever boring and tedious for your students. However, you could also make any subject interesting. Think back to some of your best professors in college. You may have had a physics professor. You didn't even like physics. But when he or she spoke, this person brought such a passion an interest in the subject that they were so dynamic that they brought the subject alive. So the first thing I want you to realize that you can be incredibly interesting. You could be a driver's ed teacher, and you can still be an incredibly interesting, riveting speaker and lecture for your students. So I just want to get that off the table. You're not going to get an excuse. Based on the subject matter. Anything could be interesting, and anything can be boring. 4. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Focus on top Five Principles something over some assumptions. Different types of teachers, lecturers and educators have different venues and possibilities for their presentations. Certainly, if you're doing a 50 minute lecture twice a week at a university to a large group of students, that's a little different than if you're a high school teacher and you have seven periods a day of 50 minutes of 30 students, and it's five days a week. I'm not suggesting that if you're giving seven different classes a day and you've got to speak to each one for 50 minutes, that you have a riveting, wonderful fantastic speech for the whole 50 minutes times seven times five every single week. That's really too much. But I do want you to think about the ideas that are most important to you, the stuff you really care about, that you absolutely, positively have to have your students understanding and remembering. You need to speak about that in a compelling and memorable way. Maybe that's just five minutes out of your classroom in a day, and the rest of the time is perfunctory stuff for each, each particular period in the classroom. If you're in high school and if you're lecturing at the college level. Maybe it's not the entire 50 minutes or hour, but a certain section of it. I do want you to really think selectively about when you are speaking. What are your goals? If your goals are to convey an awful lot of information because you're going to be testing the students on it and there's a huge amount of information, you have to go through it quickly. I understand that that's a part of education, But the students can also read. They can do a sign reading where it's just the facts. Ah, part of what you're doing when you're standing up and speaking is putting a spotlight on what's really important. You're putting a big exclamation point of all the stuff you're reading of all these facts, figures, data, points, numbers. Here's what's really important. So keep in mind this power you have if nothing is ever that important and nothing is important, if every single day is just sort of okay class blood by blah blah of a so you can see it, then students to nap. Now I realize some of your students may be rude. They might not be perfectly motivated. There's a whole range of students and their motivation. I can't control for that. What I can try to control is help you control how to come across your very best any time you're lecturing any time you're speaking to your students, because there are certain things that all things being equal are more effective than other ways of speaking. So the first big challenge is figuring out what is the core material that's really most important for your students to understand and remember. How do you put a spotlight on that? How do you give them examples, Case studies? How do you make them visualize it? I don't care how smart your students are. The human memory is much mawr oven image processor than it is a word processor or a number processor. So the more you can paint pictures in the minds of your students through telling stories through telling examples through case studies, the better the more you are simply listing fax listing numbers, listing data points, the less effective you are. So here's my challenge to you. Look, it the most important material you've gotta cover in the next week or two for your students and come up with the top five ideas that you really want people to get. Most important prints, things you want them to remember a year from now, maybe 10 years from now. Maybe if they come back for their 28 year re union and you're still there, they come up to you and reference what you said in that lecture. I want you to give some thought right now to what are the most important ideas? The principles in your subject area that you really need the students to understand and remember, Write those down and then we'll talk about ways of making it come alive. 5. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Stories I can't tell you what the most important principles are in your particular academic area of expertise. But I can tell you some things are more important than others. And if you try to cover everything with equal importance, no one will remember anything. So what I'm really suggesting is you have kind of an on off switch. The off switch are for days or topics where you've just got I got to go through housekeeping matters. You've got to get through basic stuff. You have to put a bunch of facts out there. I understand everyone has to do that occasionally. But then I want you to be very conscious and keen about turning an on switch. And when you flip that on switch when you're speaking in front of students, you're now keenly aware that what you're doing and how you're doing it is designed to really get the students to remember, even if they're not writing everything down and going on to study it like they should. The way you convey it is going to be so memorable that it just sticks everybody, no matter what they teach, what they train has some core principles that they want to stick. For example, I really want people to remember my core principle, which is you gotta practice on video until you like what you see. Don't just think about it or talk it out. Our talk to the mirror. It's a lot of people don't get that. I still remember Once more than a decade ago, I was working with a CEO. He was a billionaire high tech CEO at an annual conference, all of his top sales people from around the world where they were at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, and I'm rehearsing with him. This guy was still young guy, less than 40 but wildly successful, very well known, and he's about to give this speech to all of his sales people. So I put the camera on it. He starts his speech, and this is how he does it. He's talking like this the whole time. His head is down and his arms were crossed and he's walking up and back like this, and it was awful. So we finished the speech. I hadn't shown the recording yet, says T. J. How'd I do? Well, Vince, we'll say, Well, get your opinion. I roll the tape for him. He looked at the tape. Hey, looked at May, Did you? I had no idea I was doing there. It really opened his eyes. He literally had no idea that he was. He was pacing in a way that seemed kind of like a spastic square to answer to be us. He looked scared. Nervous tents. He looked like an awkward 17 year old boy trying Teoh get out of trouble in the principal's office. And here he was, this wealthy, successful CEO of a major international tech company. So let's do it again. So we did this speech again. This time he didn't do this because he was keenly aware that he was able to self correct. Not because I told him he looked like a fool, but because he saw himself on video. We did it again. He saw it on video and he could see that he looked 1000 times better and we kept practicing on video. And then, when he gave the speech in front of all of his executives, did a fantastic job and he looked comfortable and poised and confident. So what I do that I just told a story. It happens to be true. It happens to be riel. It only took a minute, minute and 1/2 and yet it paints pictures in the mind to dramatize the story or the principal off. Why? It's important to videotape yourself when you're speaking because you don't videotape yourself. You don't really know how you're coming across. You don't really know if you're doing nervous things and crossing your arms and staring down funny, doing all sorts of weird things. So that's how I try to get people to put a spotlight on this principle. And I give different examples depending on my audience and who it is, how much time I have. But I always tried illustrate with a story, a real story, not something fabricated. That's something I made up. Now, if you are a physics professor and you want to tell stories about Sir Isaac Newton or other famous physicist, that's fine. It doesn't have to be a personal story, but recounted in a compelling way. I understand you can't do this for every single piece of content that you are required to teach if you're in elementary school or high school and even in College. You can't necessarily do that for every single concept, but I do want you to make a decision on on switch and all switch when you want to be seen as a great communicator. Is a powerful lecturer as an interesting, engaging professor or a teacher, You've got to turn it on. You've got to do it through good stories, examples and case studies. The fax alone don't work. If they did, everybody could just sit home, read the Internet and become brilliant and get their PhDs without having to leave their bed . It still requires teaching. You still have to figure out what it is that's going to make your audience of students really understand you and connect with. So that's what I want you to dio not for your whole course for the whole semester. But think of just the these handful of most important ideas that you want people to remember from your entire course. And think of compelling stories that will make thes ideas come alive. Do that now 6. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Passion think about the number one thing you like about the best teachers you ever had in your life . Beyond the fact that they perhaps cared about you, went the extra mile, gave you extra help after class. What is it that you truly liked about how they lecture the one response I consistently get from students all over the globe? When it comes to the professor's, they really found most engaging. It was the passion they brought to the subject. Now I'm not trying to turn you into some cheesy Oh, I'm Anthony Robbins of a motivational speaker, Ryan Roberts. No, it's got to be genuine. But if you don't care about your subject matter, why should your students the best teachers, the best educators the best lecture is the best. Professors bring Israel passion to their subject. Students here it in your voice. They see it in your face. They see it in your mannerisms. I don't want you to be me. I don't want you to be Zig Ziglar knockoff are some generic motivational speaker. I want you to be you. But if you is sort of, you know, sitting at your desk, leaning on it. Okay, Class bubble. That's not passion. You don't to be yelling. You don't be running up and down the aisles, but you need to bring a passion to your subject matter. And if you don't have that and you want to be a good lecture, you've got to find that whether that's through additional readings, whether it's just through thinking about ITM or tossing the lecture notes or the course plans and coming up with new stuff as long as it is in compliance with everything else you have to do, then you need to do that. But that is absolutely critical. If you want to be, ah, compelling lecture if you want to be a good teacher, if you want your lectures to be seen as interesting and riveting and memorable, you have to have some passion for now. Sometimes that can mean getting a loud and excited sometimes means with spring. That's what people do with their passionate about something they're genuinely excited about , a subject matter that's the complete opposite of Okay, here's another fact. Here's a bullet point you can see on the blackboard here. You can see in this power point slides. Fact. I mean, the problem many teachers have. That's the problem. A lot of business executives having to give a speech. They think of it as an exercise for simply dumping data points and facts and numbers. And it's just like widgets coming off of a conveyor belt at the same speed, the same size, the same plunk into the basket. And you're simply not going to be effective that way because it puts people to sleep now, you might be a good researcher, a good writer. You may get good reviews because you give good grades, but don't kid yourself. You're not going to be a good presenter and a good lecturer If you're simply treating. This is an exercise to deliver fax on a conveyor belt. So I need you to start thinking about a lecture you want to give. Let's think of this in terms of a guest lecture overview of the most important concepts in your area. This is perhaps something you would give us the first lecture of the year to a bunch of students to really give them an overview. But I want you to think about what are the concepts most important, and I want you to think about how you would convey these ideas with passion. Which parts of these ideas are you going to be excited about? And how are you going to be excited about it? And what stories and examples are you going to use to flesh out thes key concepts? Start thinking of this lecture because we're going to have to do it and record ourselves shortly. 7. How Teachers and Educators can Lecture More Effectively Questions If you're an educator, I hope at some point you've seen the movie paper Chase, where the Harvard Law School professor calls on students in there. They don't get it right. He makes them such a nervous wreck. They have to go out and lose their lunch in the nearest restroom. It's tremendous pressure. They are expected to be able to answer questions, know the answers and to be articulate right from the beginning. Now I understand in certain schools situations that's not realistic. If you can get your students in the classroom and not fighting, that's an accomplishment. But for others of you, especially in the collegian environment, I do believe you need to set Ah, high high standard for all your students and that standards should be. You need to be ready to answer a question about anything. I'm talking about anything, have assigned any previous lecture, any readings at any time. So much of being a good lecturer is having the audience in the right frame of mind if they're sitting back very, very passively with the idea, okay, that the teacher is lecturing there, there. I'm here for in different worlds. There's an invisible buffer here and they're not really gonna tell whether taking notes on my cell phone or I'm just on Facebook. You got a problem. Part of being a great speaker is having good management of your classroom and creating expectations. Now everyone's classroom is different, but to the extent and I'm giving you tips, and I understand it's not a one size fits all. But the more you can motivate your audience of students and get them acclimated to the idea that you're gonna be calling on them at any time. They had better be able to answer to the extent that you can make a part of their great based on class participation even better. Now, if you're lecturing in front of 1000 students, it's a Nikon 101 course at a large state university. I understand you're not gonna be able to count their class participation, but for a lot of classes you can. And if you give students the expectation that I expect you to be paying attention, you are a part of this at any point. If I call on you, say how would you handle that? What do you think the solution is here that they've got to be held accountable. They will listen a lot more carefully, and that is going to increase the odds of you connecting with them, having them understand you. And remember, it's about expectations. If you expect nothing, you'll get nothing. If you think of a lecture is just a one way thing. If I've got all the insights, I've got all the knowledge and I'm gonna throw it out and you sit there and gather it up and catch it. It's not going to be nearly as effective as if you treat this more like a conversation. That's a conversation where you're still doing most of the talking. You're the senior member of the conversation. It is, but it's more of a dialogue. They can ask questions. You can ask them questions, and they need to realize we're here together for this experience for the next 50 minutes. The next hour it is a a group communal activity, as opposed to just a one way throwing out of information because if you just seem like you're going through the motions and going through the notes, I mean they can capture of it. They can have one student capture and audio of that and have a transcribe and get it. Why do they need to even show up? So there's got to be interaction. So I'm a believer that you should have certain moments in your lecture where you're toss again rhetorical questions and letting people think. But other times you then make it a real question. And you point Teoh Sam over here by name. Sam. How would you do that, Jose? What specifically would you do in that situation? And what's the correct answer there? Putting people on the spot. They don't like it good. You want them a little bit uncomfortably because what happens when you're incredibly comfortable, you fall asleep. You want your students to know that you can call on them at any time. So be prepared to ask your students questions at any point. Get them trained to be thinking, Oh, during this lecture. It's not just a passive experience. I got to really pay attention. I even had to take notes because there could be a pop quiz 30 seconds from now. That's what you want your students to be thinking about. It will motivate them toe listen much more carefully 8. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Platform Skills So now let's talk about your stage presence and you may be subtleties it. Would you talk about stage? I'm in a classroom. It's flat. There's 25 students in front of me. It's a square room. When I say your stage presence, I mean your platform skills. Even though there's no platform, I mean how you're actually moving and talking to your students. The worst of all possible worlds is sitting down at a desk in front of suits. That's the worst, because it's the most monotonous, the least interesting, the most boring. It's the most consistent as far as your audio quality visual. I understand if you have some sort of physical impairment, you have to. That's fine. But if you don't have that excuse and you really want to be a compelling speaker, certainly don't sit. The next worst thing is to stand in the front of the room in one spot. That's the next worst thing you can dio. It's too consistent. It's too boring, and students towards the back or on the side, a little bit of a slump and they can't see you, which is bad and you can't see them and they know you can't see them, so that's when the day dream starts. So that's the second worst thing. The third worst thing is to stay in the front, but to be in sort of, ah, a narrow band. Perhaps you're walking. It could be a narrow band of three feet. You're up right next to the chalkboard or on overhead projector or a power point projector , but you're walking in sort of one plane in a narrow band. So now, again, everyone in the middle, everyone in the back. Everyone on the sides feels like they're never really going to experience. You can't really see them. There's sort of this invisible force field separating you and that, and that's why they don't really have to worry about you calling on them or seeing if they're doodling or anything else. So that's why I recommend use the whole classroom. Now, if it's a 40 by 40 foot room, start in the very back with your presentations, your lectures, sometimes starting the side, walk around the rose, the back. You want every single student to see you looking at them. Ideally now, at some point, if you have more than 500 students that it's hard to do, but you can certainly be looking at every section of the room, and they still feel like you're getting eye contact by walking around the room. Students feel that connection. They feel like you can see them. It forces them to sort of pay attention. It's a lot more embarrassing to be seen on Facebook on your cell phone that the teachers standing right next to you. But if you know the teachers never going to be around and you're in the back of the room, the teachers never, ever once walked back there. It feels safe to be looking at yourself. Or if cell phones aren't allowed than doodling on paper or reading a novel, you need to motivate that audience into paying close attention. And one way to do it is to be more interesting to create variety, so by walking around you can say exactly the same thing. But you're creating more variety, more variety for their ear for their eyes. If you're walking around the room, you're forcing your students to move their head. If you're standing in one spot, the only head movement is going to be falling asleep so I want you to think about using the entire If you're a giant auditorium. Fine. Go all the way to the back. Don't tell me you can't cause the microphones on the lectern by a microphone. They're very inexpensive by a wireless microphone. We'll be talking about that in a future lecture in just a moment. But I want you to really think about using the entire room you're in. It's gonna make people perceive you. Your students perceive you is much more confident, engaging, caring about them and less boring, So use the whole room. 9. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More effectively Discipline Let's talk a moment about classroom discipline. Now everyone's different. I don't purport to have generic rules that are gonna work the very same. If you're giving a graduate seminar at Princeton for 500 Top Honors students vs a bunch of 12 year olds who are in a very inner city school where everyone has very low income and it's in a crime ridden neighborhood and you've got 45 students. They're different ones every hour. I'm not suggesting that every single principle applies to all situations. However, I do want you to think about discipline as faras the attention of the audience, your students, because if one student is on a cell phone are talking to another student and you don't do something, then the next students going to see that and there's going to be an infection throughout the entire room. I'm not suggesting you do things an overly theatrical way. I'm certainly not suggesting you destroy property. You may have seen the video once where there was a college professor teaching its alleged to it have been a fake put on video, But there's a student who pulls out a cell phone. The college professor gets it and throws. It destroys it, continues lecture. Now there may be a liability issues that you may be opening yourself to a lawsuit. I'm not suggesting you go that far, but I do think you need to let people know if you're there teaching and lecturing, you expect them to be polite. I'll never forget. It was my first semester in college. I was a freshman at Duke University. It was 1981. The full professor Alan Corn Burger, very eminent, respected political scientist, was giving an introductory political science lecture class. They were probably 150 students in the lecture hall, and he was a commanding speaker, very alerted, compelling and did walk the room. And I'll never forget. There was a fellow classmate of my lived in my dorm, and he's reading the Duke Chronicle, the student newspaper, and it was one of the classrooms where the the teachers down here and then it's a pitched the Steve Stadium style seating. So they're here. Was the students listening with 150 other students about holding a little bigger than this ? The Duke newspaper like this? The professor walks up slowly, calmly, and then who? What are you doing? You come to my classroom to read the newspaper. Here's what I want to do with your new favorite. Get out and don't come back till you're willing to pay attention. Guess what Nobody read chronicle in his classroom anymore. Nobody fell asleep. Nobody doodled it got our attention. And hey was right. It was route. It was disrespectful of that student to be reading a newspaper. That particular approach might not work for you. There might be repercussions. I don't want some students suing you saying that was a newspaper that my grandfather gave me and had sentimental. I'm not giving you legal advice. Okay? I am suggesting that that was a theatrical move that was quite effective because I still remember it. And you better believe I paid close attention to that professor even closer attention after that incident. So I do want you aware, aware of it now, when I am guest lecturing at universities, here's a tactic I use. If I see someone on the cell phone, I may just walk over that air again. I'm not ever going to stand right in front of a lectern and states in one spot. I'll walk right over Now. I'm not gonna bend down at him and say, Hey, what are you doing? You're being a jerk. I don't want to make anyone feel bad. I don't want to look like a bad guy. So a lot of time simply walking right next to the person and getting close, we'll make them embarrassed. They'll put it away. Now, if you happen to know people's names and I see that Jim over here is on his cell phone, what I might do is walk to the other side of the room and say Yes, you know, I was talking to jail right before class started and we discussed in his organise a bone. So now gyms. I heard his name. So he's coming back to attention. Or I may act like I don't see him go to another part of the room and say that often happens to a lot of us, said Jim, That's happened to you, too, right? So I'm acting like I'm not noticing that he's being rude, but I'm calling on him and I'm asking him a very simple question. We're really only has to do is say yes so if he is out of it. I don't make a fool out if I don't make him have to apologize. But I bring him back in and now he is shaking his head and he can't realizes I better get back into this. So there is a different relationship. If you were a guest lecture at a university or a high school vs a regular teacher, you have to get a light touch any of their case or there could be negative negative side effects. But I do want you to be keenly aware of your audiences attention. I want you to be jealous of their attention. If you're really passionate about your ideas, you want to be excited about people learning him and kind of upset in a controlled way if they aren't getting it. So keep in mind these various tactics you can use to bring your audience back if you're losing them for anyway. Now, if you see half the class is asleep, maybe the problem isn't with the students. May be The problem is with the lecturer 10. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Look at Your Video we've got to establish a baseline. So here's what I need you to do today or tomorrow or the next time you're in the classroom , I need you to capture a video of yourself lecturing in front of your students. Now, you could just put an I pad in the back of the room and capture it. If you have to just prop up your cell phone on a book aimed at you and capture it. I don't really care about the quality of the video. I just need you to be able to see yourself and here yourself. And let's just get kind of a raw sample to test a bench line. A benchmark. So do that. Once you've done that, once you capture the video, I need you to watch it. I need you to create a list of what you like and what you don't like. Here's the thing. If you watch a video of yourself giving a lecture to the classroom and you think you're really boring, guess what you are. That's what your students have to watch. So I want you to be a harsh critic of yourself, but I do want you to be a fair critic. Write down the things you like and the things you don't like. And let's really establish a baseline of where you are as a presenter. So please do that. If you absolutely are not gonna be in a classroom for a while, go ahead and just give a lecture to yourself in an empty room. Er toe one person and let's establish a baseline. Go ahead and do that now. 11. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Wireless Microphone Okay, I'm going to give you a tip here that is absolutely going to change your life. You can look at this course and say everything. This, D. J Phelan said, is complete garbage. Useless irrelevance. But that one tip actually profoundly changed my life. Here's the tip when you are speaking in the classroom, even if you only have four students, here's the tip. Use a wireless microphone that clips onto assured a jacket address. I love Mike and speakers. Now I know what. So use it Well, T J. That's crazy. It's a small classroom. I only have 18 students. I don't need a microphone. I can project fun. Here's the thing. There's two very bad things that happened when you project. The first is okay class. Today we're going to hear Talk about this and the open up to page 27. As you can see here on the blackboard, do you see how my voice has become sort of a certain type of monotone? That classroom voice I'm project. It's boring. It's a type of monitor. When you're projecting, your voice loses the ability to have its natural ups and downs its highs and lows. It's just lose it because you're pushing it out too much so people can hear you. So when you have a wireless microphone and speakers on, you can talk like you're talking to one person who is three feet away so you could be completely conversational. So it's more interesting to your studio. You'll sound more interesting. You'll sound more comfortable. You'll sound more confident and relaxed. But here's the other thing. You won't be tired at the end of the day because when you are projecting 15 20 feet away in the classroom without realizing it, you're using a lot more energy. You're you're pushing a lot more air out of your mouth. Cross your vocal cords. You bang your vocal chords together. It uses up a lot of energy. I mean, don't you notice that you're a lot more tired at the end of a day when you've been lecturing all day long versus a day where you're planning on writing your researching, it takes a lot of energy. Now I know what something is it well t J in our school district for our university will have a budget. We are R A V department doesn't have that you gotta Amazon for less than $80. Get a wireless microphone that you clip on and you put a speaker in the back of the room. And I'm telling you, your energy level is going to be off the chart because you're not going to be burning up and wasting all this energy on projection. So get it's not about you needing it for people to hear you. It's about you being able to talk as if you're talking toe one person who is 20 inches away and having that completely conversational tone of your voice. And you're not gonna be tired at the end of the day. No, if it's a college and you have 500 people that maybe you do ask the 80 people to help out. You know what? Maybe you buy two of them two different speakers for an extra 40 bucks. Now, I know some of you are not overpaid or highly paid, but get really ask yourself. The twice is energetic throughout the day to not be tired when that last classroom leaves to have a full evening of good energy and not be exhausted at the end of the day for the next year to 5 10 years. You tell me that's not worth $80 again. I'm not selling anything. Yeah, I don't have any brand. I don't have any any dog in this hunt and you want to get from Amazon. I just mentioned it there because I know they sell them for $80. Doesn't matter what brand All you need is you can see this is going to love Mike. It needs to be wireless, so you could walk around the classroom or the lecture hall on that trip on yourself, and you need a speaker in the back of the room. That's it, and you'll sound so much better. It also sells the problem. If you are in a large lecture hall and there's a microphone on the lectern or standing, why in the world would you want to be stuck in one spot? Or if it's some hand held microphone and I understand why you don't what He's a handheld microphone. You look like a bad amateur comic walking around with a hand held camera and then with a hand held microphone, and you can't gesture. So that's why I recommend by an inexpensive love Mike Speaker sauce many, many problems, and you're gonna have so much more energy because you're not going to be exhausted after lecturing. So please do yourself a favor. Get the love Mike and microphone and speaker for any time you're speaking. If it's more than three students, it really makes a difference. 12. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively 1st Video Rehearsal okay, It's time to really put this all together and start practicing in a meaningful way. When you're practicing your lecturing skills, you don't want to just talking out loud. You don't want to talk to a mere complete waste of time. You need to speak it out loud and captured on video and critique it. Now. If you're giving a lecture later today or tomorrow to real classroom, let's capture it in the real world. If not, go ahead and capture it in your classroom, your office, your home wherever and you can just be talking to an empty chair. Or will I need you to record yourself again. It could be just holding up your cell phone if you have two or putting an iPad in the back or use a $10 webcam on your computer, you need to give your lecture. Go get your notes that we worked on. Try to come up with that stuff that you really think is most important, sort of over via lecture for the semester of the content. That's most important. You really want to excite your students. You really want to give them a sense of what is most important about your area of expertise . Get not every single day is going to be a lecture this planned out this well thought of. But I do want you to capture your best right now and let's see what we can do. So give your whole presentation, get we want examples. We want that passion. We want the stories to come out when a narrow focus on what really that handful of most important principles are that's captured on video and then watch it. Let's make it better than the one that we just did a few lectures ago where we're trying to establish a baseline. Let's make it better than that. Come up with your list of things you like a list of things you don't like off of this video and analyze it thoroughly. So capture your lecture on video and then grade yourself 13. How Teachers and Educators Can Lecture More Effectively Conclusion Congratulations. If you've gotten this far, you've actually done the exercise that I mean actually, video record yourself numerous times until you like what you see, You're ready to be a great lecture. The way you teach is now going to be extraordinarily compelling. It interesting. You can, in fact, be riveting to your students if you follow the lessons that we've worked on here together. Now, if you've sort of just bypassed the exercise and just watch videos of me, well, it's it's giving you a taste, but it hasn't really helped you yet. So I beg you, go back to the exercises and actually practice your lecturing on video and record it. Remember, anyone could be a great lecturer if they follow these basic principles of putting a spotlight on the ideas that matter most. Giving compelling examples, case studies and stories to flesh it out, providing some variation and interest in how you are in the classroom, in the lecture hall and for the really important stuff practicing on video until you find it compelling and interesting and memorable. Do that and you will give a great lecture every time. Good luck in the classroom
I get this question a lot is it better to have a native English-speaking teacher? Or can a non-native English speaking teacher be just as effective?Iâm not going to lie as a native English-speaker that spent several years bumming around Europe teaching English, I absolutely benefited from the preference that many English learners have to learn from a native English speaker. Being a native-speaker definitely helped me find itâs not always just because native speakers have mastered the language. Thereâs also sometimes a perception that non-native English-speaking teachers use more outdated methods. This may stem from experiences with uninspired teachers in school using traditional but boring methods. But the truth is that non-native English teachers are often just as good as native-English speakersâand sometimes theyâre better. For example, when I worked at an English immersion summer camp for youth in Southwest England, the best teacher in my humble opinion was a lady from Greece. English was her second language. Later, when I taught in an English immersion summer camp for children in Southeast France, the best teacher this time without a doubt was, again, Greek. English was her third can confidently say that both of these individuals were better English teachers than I it is absolutely not the case that native English-speaking teachers letâs call them âNESTsâ are automatically better than non-native English-speaking teachers NNESTs.In this article, I want to give you my perspective on the advantages and disadvantages of native vs. non-native English speakers as teachers. Iâm hoping that, by the end, youâll be in a better position to choose a teacher that is most appropriate for you. But first, do you actually need English lessons?The question about whether NESTs or NNESTs would be a better English teacher for you assumes that you need an English teacher. But I want to highlight a point Iâve made elsewhere not everyone needs to take English lessons. In fact, there are several disadvantages to learning English in a classroom. While itâs true that tutoring and one-on-one lessons can be a very effective way to learn English, theyâre not for everyone. Before enrolling in an English course, I recommend that you think carefully about whether lessons are the right choice for you. If they are, then think about what kind of English lessons would be the most appropriate. Only after doing all that does it make sense to start thinking about whether your English teacher needs to be a native speaker or not. Advantages of native speakers as teachersThey know how people ânaturallyâ talkThe big, obvious advantage of having native speakers as teachers is that they know the language. They can speak it fluently, but, more than that, they are usually able to model its use in a particularly natural depth of knowledge of the language, and the high level of competence, can be useful to the English learner. They can tell you interesting things about where theyâre fromAnother advantage is that the native speaker can tell you about more than just the languageâthey can also tell you about their I taught in France, the majority of the conversations I had with my clients were about Canada and the difference between Canada and France. The reason was that thatâs what my clients were interested in. Most of them hadnât been to Canada and they were curious about it. Whatâs it like? How is it different from France? If youâre learning English because youâre curious about the culture of English-speaking places, actually meeting someone from those places may be a really interesting and useful experience for you. Theyâre easier to find than everTwenty years ago finding an English native speaker was tricky unless you lived in a big city. If youâre happy to have lessons online via video, itâs now easier than places to find an English teacher online include italki $10 free credit, Preply, Cambly, Verbling, Amazing Talker, and Langcer. And if youâre looking for a conversation exchange partner, Iâd recommend checking out Tandem, Bilingua, or of native speakersThey often have a worse understanding of English grammarIâve worked in five different English-teaching organisations. Almost all of them had NNESTs in addition to NESTs. I feel comfortable saying that, more often than not, it was the non-native speakers that had a better grasp of English may not be all that surprising non-native English speakers have to really learn English grammar; they had to practise it over and over to get good at it. Native speakers, like myself, can often get by on the strength of our ear. Weâre able to hear what sounds right and what doesnât without necessarily understanding why. Thatâs fine in conversation. But if you want someone to explain English grammar to you, non-natives might actually be better. Theyâre not always good at recognising or teaching other versions of EnglishIâve noticed that many English speakers arenât great at acknowledging or accepting accents that are different from their goes for me too. I remember doing an activity with a vocabulary worksheet in a school I worked for. We were learning car vocabulary. One of the words was âtyreâ and, for the life of me, I couldnât figure out what it was. This is embarrassing because itâs just the British spelling version of âtireâ, the rubber part of the wheel. Itâs pronounced the same, and most of the letters are the same, but something about that âyâ instead of an âiâ just really confused me. Itâs not just me. Iâve often seen English teachers teaching somethingâvocabulary, pronunciation, expressionsâwithout any recognition that what theyâre teaching is just one way of several. NNESTs, in my experience, are often better at qualifying what they teach, letting students know that this pronunciation or spelling or word or grammatical construct may not be used everywhere. Itâs not âthe right wayâ so much as it is âone right wayâ. Partly I think thatâs normal Native-speakers are hired because they are a kind of expert. And so, when we teach, say, pronunciation, itâs easiest to teach our own pronunciation. Still, I think it is incumbent on teachers, like me, to inform our student that what weâre teaching is one way of pronouncing a wordânot necessarily the right way. In my experience, NNESTs are better at this than NESTs, probably because theyâve had to learn it not always that interested in teaching EnglishThe truth is that not all NESTs are passionate about teaching English. Lots of them just want to travel, and teaching English is a convenientâand sometimes lucrativeâway to make a living in another country. If you live in Spain, Thailand, or Italyâbasically anywhere with a beachâIâd be willing to bet that many of the English speaking teachers in your area are mostly there because they like to travel, and not so much because they love different for NNESTs. First, itâs very difficult to find work teaching English if youâre not a native English-speaker, so NNESTs tend to be dedicated and have really polished their craft. They arenât just doing it for a year or two while they travel; theyâve invested a tonne of time,actually like teaching, and are often very good at of non-native speakersThere are usually more non-native speakers availableThe fact is that if youâre not in an immersion English programme or living in an English-speaking country, itâs probably going to be easier for you to find I lived in France, I sometimes went to an English-French language exchange meetup. I was one of the few native English speakers thereâsometimes I was the only one. But there were lots of French speakers that wanted to practise English. And they often ended up just chatting with each a numbers game. Non-native English speakers are probably going to be easier to find if you donât live in an English-speaking place. There are more of them, and that's a massive are an example of successful language learningWe have a saying in English that âyou canât be what you canât see.â The idea is, roughly, that having role models can help you achieve great of the advantages of learning English from a NNEST is that, because they are a person that has learned English fluently, they embody the success that their students are looking for. It might be easier for you, a student, to imagine yourself becoming proficient at English when you can see a person who has done it. But not only that, NNESTs can also model the learning skills that helped them to be successful learning English. For example, language teachers may demonstrate how they use Youtube to learn English or show how they overcame their fear of speaking. NNESTs know what the barriers to learning are because they have already overcome them. They know what challenges students will face because they have already faced them. By having learned English themselves, NNESTs can demonstrate to students that learning English is possible if you put in the work. And they can model the learning strategies that students can use to achieve that same success. They may be better at teachingSome research suggests that NESTs approach their lessons differently than NNESTs. NNESTs are more likely to integrate language into the contextâeither the situation or the linguistic context. The researchers suggest that this developed through their experience having to cope in English-speaking situations. On the other hand, NESTs tend to teach using more abstract principles, making students more âconsciously awareâ of the language rather than focusing on using it to communicate meaning. NNESTs may therefore be more likely to teach in a way that is consistent with what we know about the theory behind language learning that learning language in context matters. For that reason, NNESTs may be more successful at helping you develop your ability to convey meaning. The research also found that non-native speaking teachers prepared for their classes more carefully. This may be because NESTs may feel more comfortable winging it whereas NNESTs may not have that same confidence, and therefore prepared more thoroughly than their native-speaking colleagues. Finally, especially for lower levels, teachers that share a mother tongue with the student may be particularly well-placed to teach effectively. They can switch to their mother tongue to translate difficult ideas or more easily teach of non-native speakersLack of depth of informal language uses or slangNNESTs may not have the same depth of language knowledge as native-speakers. This may show up in particular subject areas or in particular dialects. Indeed, some research does show that it is in language competency where NNESTs may be slightly behind NESTs. You might be tempted to slip into your native tongueIf you share a native language with your teacher, it can be tempting to use itâat the expense of practising English. I saw this sometimes when I worked in France. My company liked the fact that my French wasnât that good because it meant that I wouldnât switch into French with the clients. If youâre looking for a more immersive experience, you may not want to learn from a teacher that speaks the same language as you. Uninspired teaching?Iâve occasionally come across students who are turned off of NNESTs because they have had bad experiences at school with teachers who werenât very good. These teachers may have been older, and learned English from a textbook in the 1960s at about the same time they designed their English course. They may not have changed things think this is fairly common in English-speaking countries tooâI certainly know some French teachers in my own school system had classes that were, to put it bluntly, not good. So some people, I think, expect that all NNESTs may have a style similar to their least favourite teachers from school kind of out-of-date and ineffective. They may be apprehensive for those reasons. While you may find teachers like that among both NNESTs and NESTs, I think these are fairly uncommon now. Most adult language tutors and private tutors have moved past this and have more sophisticated teaching styles and while I am aware that some students of English are apprehensive about the teaching style of NNESTs, I think itâs generally not the case that the teaching style of NNESTs is less interesting or less effective. So, how can the independent learner apply all that?Great, so there are some advantages and disadvantages to learning from native speakers and non-native speakers. But what can you do with all that? Here is what I would native English-speaking teacher is probably better for you ifYouâre at a very high level of English,You want to learn English for a very specific purpose for example, to talk about complex ideas in a particular professional or academic context, orYou have a very particular accent that youâre trying to learn and you want coaching in it. A non-native speaker is probably better ifYou have a relatively low level and need to be able to speak in your mother tongue,You want in-person lessons that arenât expensive and you donât live in an English-speaking country, orYou would find it motivating to learn English from someone who has done it if you donât find yourself in any of the categories above, probably you could benefit from either a NEST or a NNEST. Perhaps more important than your teacherâs native language is what they are like as a teacher. Some are inspiring and use creative activities; others use outdated and, frankly, ineffective methods. Some leave you enjoying English, and some make you wish you were doing anything else. Ideally, youâll find a teacher with whom you have chemistry; someone who will motivate you. That may be more important than whether they are a native English about native vs. non-native English-speaking conversation partners? Do you need native-English speakers as conversation partners?Absolutely not. Non-native speakers are great to practise with. Much of my early French I actually learned at a French conversation meetup in Glasgow. I got to an A2 level over a few months in part by chatting with my Scottish neighbours a few times a week at a local youâre looking for a conversation partner, non-native speakers can be just as useful as important thing is that you use the language. Native vs. Non-native English teachers either can be effectiveThe majority of this article has been about the pros and cons of native vs. non-native English teachers. The conclusion is that, for most English learners, both native and non-native speaking teachers can be effective. While some of us may have had experience with NNESTs in school that werenât good, the reality is that most non-native private tutors and those that teach at modern adult language schools are usually quite good. If youâve written off a NNEST because of a bad experience in school, you might be missing out. Rather than making a decision about your teacher based on their native language, I encourage you to look for other characteristics that make someone a good teacher whether they seem prepared, whether you enjoy working with them, and whether youâre making progress. But Iâd also like to take this moment to remind you that the most important factor in your English learning isnât your teacherâitâs you. We learn a language by learning it; that is, by putting in the effort and time to sit down and actively engage with it. An inspiring teacher is great, whether thatâs a native or non-native, but you will learn English from any teacher if you put in the work. Heck, you can learn English alone if you want toâand many people do. So, sure, take an English class or hire a tutor if you think thatâs best for you. But my advice is to not get too concerned about whether theyâre a native speaker or not. Find someone that you like... and then make sure youâre consistently engaged with Englishâlistening to it, reading it, speaking it, and writing it. If you do that, youâll see progress regardless of who your teacher Merino, I. 1997. Native English-speaking teachers versus non-native English-speaking teachers. Revista alicantina de estudios ingleses, 10, K., & Rizki, D. 2018. Native vs. non-native EFL teachers Who are better?. Studies in English Language and Education, 51, 137-147.
A few years ago, I gave a talk at an education conference. The topic of the conference was K-12 mathematics education, but like most such conferences, it took place at a university. When I spoke near the end of the conference, my topic was a simple question "Where are the teachers?" Over three days, not one of the speakers was an actual K-12 teacher. Teachers were experts too, I said, and we should be listening to them too. Awkward silence followed. Finally, one of the distinguished education professors spoke up. "You know," he said with some irritation, "I wouldn't ask my students to teach their own classes; why should we invite K-12 teachers to talk about education?" I was reminded of this when I read a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post by Mike Rose, an education scholar from UCLA. Rose pointed out that over the years he'd read some 60 articles on medicine in the New Yorker magazine; nearly two-thirds were authored by medical practitioners medical doctors. Yet over the same period, he'd read 17 articles on education, and not one had been authored by an education practitioner, either a teacher or an education researcher. I myself would be less expansive in defining "practitioner." Rose went on to explain why this ill-served the New Yorker's readership. David Remnick, the New Yorker's editor provided a brief response in which he compared education to politics or sports. Remnick pointed out that they published many articles on these other subjects, but few by politicians or sports figures. He added that the New Yorker did publish articles authored by university professors, who were, after all, educators too. Now we have COVID-19. Here in New York City, as in other places across the country, the city faced an agonizing decision, whether to close the schools. The decision was complex Schools provide a variety of vital services to students and their families, and one had to balance disrupting those services against slowing the contagion, potentially saving lives. The decision also involved education itself, however, and while politicians, pundits, social workers, advocates for the poor, even union reps all weighed in, teachers were not part of the deliberations. Teachers found out the day before. It's commonplace to say, "We don't respect teachers," but we seldom consider what that means. Respect isn't merely the way you treat peopleârespect is the way you value their expertise. That eminent university professor infantilized K-12 teachers, no matter how seasoned or accomplished they were, perhaps because the teachers he knows are in training. Mr. Remnick suggested that university professors provide sufficient expertise most likely because he doesn't know what education expertise means or perhaps he confuses expertise with prestige. When deciding whether to close schools, the mayor and chancellor saw teachers as employees who receive decisions rather than experts who help shape at MfA, engaged in a science Lisnet for Math for America When we don't value expertise, we stop expecting it. Some policy makers assert that teachers don't need to know content beyond the level of their students. They suggest that teachers who learn as they teach can understand their students' struggles! Teachers seldom have a role in formulating pedagogical reforms, which are often created by university educators or politicians. And teachers are almost never consulted about policies that profoundly affect their students, like standardized testing or algebra for all in 8th grade or closing schools. Should teachers be experts in the content they teach? Of course, they must. To teach young people, you have to know the materialâdeeply, differently, so you can unpack the ideas in many ways, for the struggling as well as the precocious. Should teachers be part of reform? Of course. Teachers are the ones who drive reform forward, not policy makers. Should teachers weigh in on issues that affect their students? It seems absurd to even ask such a question. Good teachers know their students best. When we ignore this, we make colossal mistakes, like creating bizarre testing regimes or proposing misaligned curricula. Education suffers when we don't value teacher expertise, but the worst consequence is something more lasting The teaching profession becomes less attractive. The best eventually leave, fewer of the best enter, and over time teacher expertise declines, creating a downward spiral. Yes, I know, not every teacher is an accomplished expert, just as not every doctor is. But many are, and they are the ones we need most. Instead, they leave. Worse, they tell brilliant young people who think about teaching as a career "You can do better." A 2019 PDK survey asked teachers whether they would advise their own children to follow in their footsteps; less than half 45 percent said they would. The week of May 4 is Teacher Appreciation Week in the United States. This year, instead of giving teachers a plant or a letter or a video all suggestions from the internet, why not give them something they can use? Give them respectâthe kind that recognizes their expertise. Otherwise, we might all soon be asking ⊠"Where are the teachers?"
are all the teachers speakers
