“Everyday our lives are influenced by many people. Everyday a student is actively making the choice of who they will become. Teachers, you are teaching not only information but life lessons, everyday you have the chance to make a difference in a student's life. If you choose to make the best of this special gift, you will be doing your part to make the world a better place."
--- Written by A.B., Age 16 --- Washington
As a soon to be first year teacher I am quickly realizing that I will be teaching much more than the significance of certain battles during the Civil War or the role of women in the Civil Rights Movement. As a high school teacher I want to send productive, creative students with critical thinking skills out into the world. But is it the teacher’s place to teach values? What values would I teach? What if the values I possess are in contrast to the family of a student? Where do morals fit in to the classroom discussion? When do I start doubting my decision to become a teacher? Just kidding about that! Certainly values do have a place in the classroom, but the values have to be characteristics that everyone would want and value. These characteristics are called “life skills” and they are currently adopted by more than five hundred schools in Indiana. These life skills are: trustworthiness, truth, personal best, active listening and no put downs. Any teacher or employer looking at this list would certainly agree that any person with all of these traits would make a wonderful employee or student. I think this list is a great guide for helping to run any classroom. These traits are such that they do not interfere with the personal beliefs of the family or the student. The life skills are also effective because they do not speak to morals, which are a personal choice. The skills are what every citizen should strive for to make our society as good as it can be.
So we have our life skills list, now what? As a teacher one of the most important things we can do is modeling. Be the person you want your students to be. At the top of the list is trustworthiness, always follow through with your students, if you say you will do something then do it. Let the students see how a professional performs their duties. Next is truth, even if the truth is unpleasant find a way to say it tactfully, but do not ever lie. Show your students that telling the truth is always the best option. Next is personal best, always have a plan each day, students will know if you are winging it. Take the job seriously and do the best job you can everyday. Students will notice you are dedicated to what you are doing. Active listening is next on the list. Really hear what your students are saying to you. Sympathize and relate, let them know you are listening and that you care. And lastly is no put downs, never denigrate a student for a wrong answer or for not doing well in class or for any reason at all. Make your classroom a place where students will feel safe to be themselves, a place where mistakes can be made and their point of view is important.
Whew! That’s a lot to put on one person, oh yeah, you also have to get each student prepared for the standardized test at the end of the course or they will not graduate. Teachers make how much money again? I have believed my whole life that if you go in to teaching for the hours and the summer off you are a criminal, students need dedicated, passionate people who will give all they have to each student and then occasionally a little more.
This is a teacher with passion!
Great post! I agree that the values must be a universally accepted list of positive traits. My children's school system has been using these life skills for at least 12 years and I have found that it has been a pretty effective way to run the classroom. I think values is one of those areas where you must also hope your student's families are doing their part in the teacher/home partnership.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both-consistency is the key to any sort of teaching/learning process and this case is no exception. I personally didn't attend a school that used the "life skills" way of teaching but I have younger family members that did. Not only is it an effective way to run the classroom, but it might even encourage a child to develop initiative and use what they learn through these skills in their own homes, especially if they haven't been taught much by family.
ReplyDeleteI will also eventually be a teacher, however I still have a couple more years to go, but I can agree with you completely about the issue with “teaching values”. What values are too much to expect? Too little? Which ones will have major contrast with what goes at home? As a teacher there are a lot of holes that need to be filled in. The “life skills” that you listed I think are an excellent base for the classroom and I haven’t heard about them yet, so thanks for the helpful information! These skills seem like they would provide what is needed in the classroom without pushing the limits and without offending anyone’s race, religion, or upbringings which is huge. I also liked how you included the fact that teachers need to follow these guidelines as well. I believe that as a teacher you need to lead through example all the time too. The video clip was very catchy and fun, I think that it could get a lot of students excited about school without much effort on the student’s part. It is also great because it is something differently, and I know as a student myself, anything that can add excitement to the subject helps out a lot. Traditional lecture style classrooms are out the door when it comes to education. Some of the old school values are gone too. I also wonder if these “life skills” will change over time like they have in the past and what they will evolve into?
ReplyDeleteYour post could be very influential to some school systems. Some school systems believe that students shouldn't have to take a life skills class, but my first year of college it was a required course called critical thinking. Never did I once hear about it in high school or grade school. It kind of introduced us to the multiple ways we could think, what we could do in certain situations, and when we are out in the career world, if we are faced with a situation how we could possibly handle the situation. I too am almost done with my schooling and it makes me nervous to think about teaching young chilren that have not had any values given to them. I am one that can deal with an attitude, but when it's given to me constantly, it makes me feel as if I'm not making a positive impact on that child's life. I completely agree with teaching the "life skills" in the classroom, but then it becomes overwhelming when thinking about the long lists of standards as well as incorporating life skills into your lessons. I think that they should come naturally to most adults, and hopefully I can do it natuarally to my students, that way it will incoporate everything into one without much planning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Troy, the life skills approach seems to work with not over-stepping any boundaries of teaching children values their parents may not agree with. I did attend a school where life skills were implemented. Some of the teachers I had made sure that the class used them and some not. The ones who didn't stick by the life skills examples had out of hand classrooms with some of the most obnoxious students I can remember.
ReplyDeleteIt was weird this last semester going to do observations at an elementary school and seeing the same life skills posted in the classroom, it was also kind of humourous because they were the same exact pictures that went along with the words! But I was in a special (emotional) education classroom, where the 5 boys misbehaved daily and the teacher had to remind them daily about what they were doing wrong "Are you doing your personal best?" and in that moment they would completely turn around their behavior. So it works...and it's kind of cool to see that it's still being used in classrooms today.
I loved the video. Talk about teaching outside the box! If we could all be willing to risk this much... His dancing started off awful but got better. I just appreciate his willingness to be vulnerable in this way. If teachers can take such a risk, maybe students will be encouraged to take risks as well.
ReplyDeleteAs for values in the classroom, I agree with Madeleine that the life skills values seem pretty objective; I believe all kids have been taught values. All kids have values; however, their values may or may not be ones we share. In the video, the dancing-teacher has brought an idea--a different value--into the classroom, that is, that the body is important and should not be left out of the educational process. (Remember Ken Robinson saying this?) I wonder what other values we might notice in children if we look at their behaviors with a fresh perspective.
I agree with your idea of teaching values inside classroom. In the education class of P-250 we learned that classrooms is not bout teaching materials only, it is about teaching self regulation, behaviours and much more.
ReplyDeleteStudents learning values within the classroom is very important. Students must learn that and as a future educator I want to do all that I can to help educate the young minds of my further future. Your tips on what to do within the classroom are very helpful and they were very well planned out and thought about.
ReplyDeleteA thought I had for possibly avoiding parental clashes over what values are impletmented would be to send home a copy. Have the parents read it, sign it, and return it for your files. That way, if there is something that someone has a problem with, for any reason, it's dealt with in the beginning. It also helps to hold students accountable for their behavior. If you are using these specific standards in your class, and their parents are not only informed, but have "approved" those standards, then they're accountable to you for their conduct as well as being held accountable at home.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true that these Life skills are important because they don't interfere with the personal beliefs of the parents but are so necessary to life that they need to be taught because so many children are lacking these values. We as future students must send our students out in to the world prepared and ready.If we don't teach values how can we do that? We can't.
ReplyDeletePassion your heart has to be in teaching every step of the way! If your hearts in it you won't have time to calculate the amount of time and energy you put in.
I think there is a fine line that teachers must walk on when teaching values in the classroom. I think that by teaching them values without hitting any morals is a hard thing to do. However, I think you are very correct in saying that we need to teach the children these "Life Skills". I think that this is a great way that schools and teachers have found a way around being able to teach values without stepping on anyone's toes with morals. Teaching children these life skills is very important and through teaching them these skills it will not only form better schools and classrooms but hopeful instill values in these children that they wil carry with them to create better communities in the future.
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