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Re: Teaching by the unqualified



At 20:26 -0700 2/10/02, SSHS KPHOX wrote:

Kids can respond well when invited to be part of the learning team. Sad
the teacher who feels he must know it all. Even today if a student came to
me with the idea that 0.99999999...= 1 I would have to ask how they knew
that and if they could prove it to me as I am not sure. I am always
pleased when one of my students can and will teach me something. So are
they.

I really think that is an important part in being a successful
teacher. If learning is truly a life-long experience, then it only
makes sense that the teacher should be learning along with the
students--not necessarily the same things the students are learning,
but a certain level of overlap isn't all bad, and if done with the
proper good humor, even a lot of overlap can work.

It seems to me to be the kiss of death to try to con the students
into thinking that you are the font of all knowledge, and that if you
don't know it, it isn't worth knowing. The students will detect
almost immediately that this is bluff and can make your life
miserable for it. Ken's last two sentences above are one of the most
important lessons a new teacher can learn.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
<mailto://haskell@ncssm.edu>
<mailto://hhaskell@mindspring.com>

(919) 467-7610

Let's face it. People use a Mac because they want to, Windows because they
have to..
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