A little teaching philosophy

As a high school senior in Ohio someone asked me what I would do if money and status were not part of the equation.  I wasn't the student at the top of the class.  In fact, I got a D in Geometry because I did not complete much of my homework that year.  Luckily, throughout school I usually had a fairly good understanding of the material.  I have since realized that my understanding did not just magically happen because I was smart.  Although having a good memory will get you very far in high school.  It happened because of two things: practice and teaching others.  Like almost all students, I did not get joy out of doing a bunch of problems (see Geometry above).  I felt most successful when I was able to help someone else understand the material.  When one of my friends would struggle with class, I would love to help.  To me, homework was a social thing and there is no better way to learn something than to teach it.  I knew that my friends could have figured it out on their own, but they could get there a lot faster with a little help and support.  So what did I do with all of this knowledge?

I went to Clemson University and became an engineer.

Clemson trained me to solve problems logically and analytically.  I have used those skills throughout my life, but I never got the excitement, the challenge, the passion that others had for engineering.  I thought again of what I would do if I disregarded money and status.  I wanted to help others be successful like when I helped my friends or when I tutored people in college.

I went to George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and earned a Master of Education degree.  I was trained to be a teacher. 

Anyone who has started a new job understands that the training you get does not usually make you very good at your job.  It just helps you not screw up too bad.  Looking back on my first couple of years, I can't say I was very good, but I don't think I screwed-up too bad either.  By my 4th year, I had put in over 4000 hours of practice with the skill of teaching.  It is not just hours of practice that helped me improve.  I had many mentors who modeled excellent teaching, countless dicussions on education, and the desire to do  better each year than the last.  A while ago, I figured out that it takes me about three years of teaching any subject before I can totally move past WHAT I am teaching to focus on HOW I am teaching it and WHO I am teaching it to.  I think that is one of the keys to being an educator: focusing on the how and the who instead of the what.

I started to become an educator.

I am beginning my 10th year of teaching. I have taught courses in physical science, earth science, chemistry, physics, and engineering.  I have now been practicing for over 10000 hours.  Malcolm Gladwell might think that I would be a candidate for an expert or a master teacher by now.  I would argue that there is no such thing as a master teacher, just teachers who keep asking what they can do better next year.

So we all know how I answered the question. I do not make the money of an engineer.  Regarding status, all the teachers are fairly equal without much possibility for advancement in my experience.  Why do I do this? For the challenge to be the best I can and for that feeling I had in high school when I helped another person feel successful.


Troha