Teaching Position Paper
February 2002

My position on teaching has its roots in a time when teaching was either completely structured or completely lacking in structure.Coming from that basic background I would have to say that the best formula lies somewhere in the middle. It is my impression that young people are not as easily stimulated as they once were. With the advent of television and computers, young people seem to require a greater effort from teachers to capture and keep their attention.

Based on the above theory, I believe that an interactive environment in the classroom is fundamental. Many adult learning techniques could be utilized in the classroom. For instance, Gagne’s seven to nine rule. This adult learning technique requires that feedback or an interactive activity be placed after every seven to nine bits of new information. The activities can be as simple as asking the class a question or as involved as playing a game to demonstrate the information. The idea is that the activity will reinforce the information causing the student to retain the lesson. In short, with application comes learning.
In addition to an activity based lesson plan, I also believe in discipline. Activities should be short and controlled. Learning discipline and attention skills is an important part of early learning. It bears keeping in mind that all people, young or old, do not learn in the same way. Some are visual, some audio and many require the use of both techniques in order to fully grasp an idea. For that reason, a teacher needs to be dynamic in their approach and open to a diverse teaching environment.

An evolved classroom, in my opinion, would include students that are willing to participate, are respectful of their teacher and of other students, and are excited about learning. In order for this to happen the teacher should have a strong sense of self and the ability to guide a class without demanding or dictating. Having a comfort level with the natural flow of the learning process is ideal for both the teacher and students. The last factor I would like to touch on is the necessity for a teacher to use familiar techniques, activities and examples. As a student, "learning to learn" is an enormous barrier and can hinder the process of learning and retaining the important information. If a student is concentrating on remembering the process and the details of getting to the information, then the teacher has failed, if that was not their intention. For this reason interactivity should be fun, simple and pertinent, not distracting and detail oriented.

Unfortunately, my ideas on teaching are based on opinions formulated in the corporate world and my own humble experiences. I hope to learn how to use my misadventures to create successful lesson plans that will truly benefit students in the classroom and in their future.