Week 1 in and at English

9.12.10 By Chris Hearse

No surprise - “teaching” is exhausting.  I put it in quotes to point out that I actually haven’t done much teaching in the first three days of school.  All I’ve done so far is help my mentor in the classroom, observe a lot, and meet my students.  Even though I am very tired from waking up early, preparing for school every day, and setting up the classroom I have nevertheless learned a lot in the first three days.  What stands out the most in my mind is that instead of just thinking that every student deserves a great education, I feel it now.  It’s not just some abstract axiom – when you are around my students you just know that they deserve an excellent education.  As an ESL teacher resident I know it is my duty to provide them with the tools they need in order to learn and use English.  The question I have to ask myself is how I can best serve them.  I have been thinking back on the BTR classes I’ve taken this summer and I further asked myself whether the classes have prepared me for this.  After grappling with this question for a bit I came to the conclusion that for the most part they have prepared me. 

I know for sure that the cycle of inquiry, a true pillar of teaching pedagogy, will help me this year.  This comes from an instinct that tells me that effective teaching must involve a lot of critical self-questioning.  The cycle of inquiry is supposed to make sure we are always good teachers; the cycle is continuous and circular.  It demands that we hypothesize, plan, teach, collect data, analyze the results, use the results to create a modified hypothesis, and start the cycle over again.  It is very similar to the scientific method.  It is my hope that this will be my best friend during this coming year.  I therefore do not have any doubt about the cycle of inquiry’s helpfulness this school year.

What I am curious about is if the cognitive development theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, and many others will be of use to me in the classroom.  These theoreticians will not reach as directly into the classroom as the cycle of inquiry and other teaching tools will.  It seems to me that I probably won’t even give them a passing thought while teaching.  I am now most concerned with practical tools that I can use in order to be a good teacher.  Nonetheless I know that these different theories about cognitive development undoubtedly inform my closest and unconscious thoughts on intelligence and development.  I, however, also know that I won’t be worried about their ideas and theories - I’ll be worried about whether my students are learning.