Tag: Education

365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 21

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January 21,2012

Just touring my neighborhood made me aware of how little I know about it. I have walked past McCaw School of Mines dozens of times and the day I photographed it, it took on a whole new perspective for me. Sometimes you just have to not only stop and smell the roses, but look around and take in the WHOLE  scene. Grab your camera, shoot away and then see what you captured, it might surprise you!

 

 

 

 

– Eva Santiago copyright 2012

Great Credentials Do Not a Great Teacher Make

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This blog is a follow-up to the one I posted yesterday:https://evasantiago.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/noah-webster-defines-education/

NOTE to all of my GREAT teacher friends: This EXCLUDES YOU! So if the shoe doesn’t fit, please don’t wear it :)

I have observed this particular phenomenon for a while now. My youngest daughter attends a dance studio here in town. She’s been taking  dance classes for 5 years now and we’ve changed studios twice. I see in today’s topic  a disturbing trend and one that not too many people want to discuss. Did you know that as teachers we have the potential to mentor our students? Let me define the word mentor-

MENTO’RIAL, a. [from Mentor,the friend and adviser of Ulysses.]

Containing advice or admonition.

Mentoring

When I went to school there were a few teachers that I still remember well. They were not only interested in doing their job to impart knowledge to me. They went a step further and  mentored me. Yes, I understand that in the large classroom sizes of today, that is difficult.  Back then, our class size  ranged around 25 kids per teacher, and some of these fine teachers I had took the extra time with me .

The one characteristic that stands out the most of my teachers that I remember with great affection is that they were there to set the right example for me. So naturally I was under the notion that a good teacher can be a great role model. And  I see this quality lacking in a lot of the teachers at my daughter’s dance studio.

The students are required to adhere by a strict dress code and yet the dance instructors shows up in whatever they felt like wearing to class that day. Many times I’ve wondered if they even ran a comb through their hair before they left the house. Why bother with the dress code then? That was what all 3 of my daughters asked me when they were all taking classes. I could hear the frustration in their voices and I saw how the teacher not following her own rules demoralizes her students.

Another great quality that all of my favorite teachers possessed was that they respected me not only as their student but also as a human being. They never talked down to me or made me feel less than the child I was.  I have lost track of the times my girls have come home from a dance class, completely discouraged because of a callous tongue, icy disposition or indifferent attitude from their dance instructor. When I addressed this issue with the owner of the studio, she just blew it off and assured me that my girls needed to “toughen up” because this is how it goes in the the dance world!

I laughed at that because my girls are pretty tough cookies already who can hold their own. The owner proceeded  to tell me about the credentials of the teachers there and that they were “lucky” to be trained by  professionals with such clout. Really?

So it’s acceptable to be a nasty teacher with a mean temper just because you trained at Julliard and danced with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater? I was far from impressed and I let her know it. Folks, how can teachers demand respect from their students when they are not setting the right examples for them to follow. Children look to their superiors for guidance and if non is offered they turn a deaf ear.

Teaching is not just another job you  show up to  so you can collect your paycheck . If you don’t care a hill of pinto beans about children, if children repulse you and if you have zero tolerance for them, then perhaps you need to find your true calling. Teaching is a higher calling like that of being a parent; that’s why it’s so undervalued and under paid.

This post is dedicated to all the wonderful teachers I had throughout my school years:

Sister Margaret- St. Francis School- 1st grade

Ms. Mary  Ellen McClellan- St. Francis School-3rd Grade

Ms. Molly Gillard-St. John’s- 6th Grade

Mrs. Carol Kane-Bitburg American Middle School (BAMS)-6th Grade

Mrs. Reece- BAMS-7thGrade

Mr. James- BAMS- 8th Grade

Mrs. Betty Meyers-BAMS- 8th Grade

Mr. Griffin– Marshall High School–10th Grade

Ms. Andermatt- Marshall High School-11th Grade

Mr. Walter Collis- Marshall High School- 11th,12th Grades

Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication! I never forgot how much you cared.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 19

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Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense 🙂

Day 19 Question #19: What is one of the super unique aspects of your own family today?

Answer: I had to think hard on this one because there are several dynamics that make my family stand out in a crowd. I believe a key aspect though is the fact that my husband is twenty years my senior. That has played a major role in our evolving as a family unit. I have been told by close friends that the way we are rasing our kids, resembles something more out of the 1950’s  landscape than 2011. We are one of those rare modern families that with God‘s favor and grace, can live on a single income which allows me to stay home so I can educate our kids. Yes, it’s tough at times going without some of the extra things we THINK might make us happy. But in the end stuff has to take a back seat to nurturing and educating our future. 

Another interesting side note is that my husband’s “old school” morals and mine came from two different places. His came from the era he was raised in . Mine came from having been born in another country and having been raised by two people who kept the traditions of our country of origin and instilled them in me  in a new culture and society.

Secondly the 20 year difference in our marriage enhances our kid’s education in ways I’d never imagine. They are exposed to several very different time periods; being that my husband is a baby boomer, our kids are more  familiar with  the culture that he grew up in than  their peers. Just for an example, ask my kids  about Red Skelton,  Nat King Cole, I Love Lucy, and a lot of the music and pop culture of the ’60’s and they can tell you in detail.Most kids their age, draw a complete blank. I was a product of the 1980’s culture so they are thoroughly familiar with a lot of the fashions, music and pop culture of that era too.

So the bridging the gap between two very different and unique eras has helped to shape and mold our family into who we are today.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 17

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Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense. :)

Day 17 Question #17:  What is the kindest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

Answer:  I read this and my mind immediately went to when I was in Bible College. I had come up with the tuition money for that semester but I was having a hard time coming up with the money for the required books. I went to the registrar to see what I could do about it and she said that my books were paid for. I was thrilled! I asked her how and she said that someone had paid for my books earlier that week. When I asked her who because I wanted to thank them personally, she said she had promised this individual complete anonymity.  My eyes got a little misty and I thanked God for coming through for me through the kindness of a stranger.

Stand on This!

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From time to time in my years of home schooling I have run into certain insecurities about my calling. Are my kids learning enough? Can I teach them everything that they need to know before they leave the nest? Have I done my job as their teacher well? Will they be able to succeed in life? I mean the questions kept coming over the years until one day I read this scripture in Isaiah 54:13, ” Your children will be taught of the Lord and they shall know great peace.” I made that scripture the  focus of my homeschooling philosophy.
 
Since then I have talked to parents from both camps; homeschoolers and public schoolers and I have heard parents raise the same questions I have had. The answer is simple really; of course we can’t teach our kids EVERYTHING they need to know by the time they are 18. Seriously, does anyone ever graduate from high school having all the knowledge they will need for the rest of their life? Also, as far as what kind of job did I do as my kid’s main teacher? That too becomes more clear as they grow up; I rest in knowing that I gave them my best and I tried my best. As far as knowing whether they will succeed in life; that will depend entirely on them; yet again I rest knowing that I equipped them with tools for their lives and it’s up to them to take what was given to them and use that for their benefit.
 
May I suggest something to you? Give yourself some credit from time to time. If you are doing your best by your children, God honors that! Enjoy your summer day 🙂
 
” I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” -Chinese Proverb
 
 
 

SUMMER!

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Today my daughter came up to me and said the dreadful words,” I’m bored.” School is out for the summer and the season looms ahead of us. She explained that she had done everything to avert the “boredom monster” as I used to perceive it. “Mama, I have danced, I read, I did some art and now, I’m bored.” So I took a closer look at her statement and then I came up with an idea…me had a thought…or a chain of them any way.

I remember being a kid out of school for the summer and it never occurred to me to utter the “I’m bored” mantra of every school age kid. No way, I had to keep my mouth shut because if I ever dared make such a declaration, my aunt would have found me more work to do. As it is I had to help her shine her collection of sterling silver which she kept in a china cabinet that went from floor to ceiling and it was full of beautiful silver artifacts. Then if that wasn’t enough to keep my little hands busy, she expected me to do some kind of needle work. So you see, I became an expert at biting my tongue and not letting those 2 little words escape my lips.

                                                                                                                

So as I came back to the present and I studied my daughter laying on the couch in the living room; I told her what I had always wanted to hear from my aunt’s mouth but it never came,” It’s ok to not always be doing something .” My girl looked at me and I saw her relax right away as I continued,” I don’t think you’re bored,I think you might feel like you always have to be doing something…just enjoy yourself..it’s still good to day dream ok?” She smiled as she settled on the couch to continue doing absolutely NOTHING!

SCHOOL’S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!                                  

I enjoy summer vacation because I believe something special happens to me as a teacher and to my kids that I teach;just as life reflects nature;summer is a season of growing in ways that won’t be apparent until the following fall when school begins anew. During this season of rest and growth;we get rejuvenated and our roots tend to go deeper. I live out in the desert and nature hibernates when the weather is scorching;likewise I believe that as we rest from all school work and pressures that accompany the lives of teachers and their students;summer is when we “marinade” in all the knowledge that was acquired in the previous school year

I have seen it personally year after year;every time school starts back up for us,my kids come in eager to start. Also ,skills that may not have come easy to some of them,somehow after summer vacation,they grasp them . Being that I run a small school I have the privilege of seeing up close changes that perhaps might be missed if my kids swam in a bigger pond..

So go ahead,kick off your shoes,buy a new bathing suit,grill out,plan a vacation some where far away or maybe stay close by;but whatever you choose to do, whether it’s a lot, a little or maybe nothing at all..ENJOY yourself and live!  See you next Fall young people :)!!!

                                                                        

                                                     Eva Santiago copyright 2010