Make It Work! -Education Project Runway Style

Teaching Tips From Tim Gunn, Mentor on ‘Project Runway’ - NYTimes.com
I love Mr. Gunn's mantra of "Make It Work". All too often in education we spend countless hours talking about why something cannot work in education, whether we are in a preschool classroom or on a college classroom. 

Making it work requires each member of a community to put faith in each other a make a conscious effort to not make excuses, support each other, and make sure that everyone has a chance at greatness. 

What struck me most if the advice Tim Gunn had for other teachers. In the article he said this: 

"Be a keen listener. I learned quickly that if the student’s perception is that you’re not listening to them, and not understanding them, they discredit you. We’re in this together. I want you to ascend." 

He is absolutely right-WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER! There is not place for I or me in education, unless you are an infant or toddler (where it is developmentally appropriate to be egocentric). 

A teacher MUST listen to their students. Listen to what they say verbally and non-verbally. I am always telling my college students that I must know you to TEACH you. Luckily for me the understand that I much like Mr. Dunn. Teachers can make or break a student's motivation for learning, hopefully most choose to inspire greatness! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Legacy-Do You Know What Your Imprint with Be from the Grave?

In an article entitled, "Leaving Our Legacies Mindfully", the author discusses how we should think about what our legacy will be and do so mindfully. In a culture filled with selfies, I often wonder how many of us actually care about what our imprint on the world will be when we take our last breathe.  Three things resonate with me from the article: Passion, caring, and living authentically.  When we are passionate about something, we are invested and willing to go beyond the call of duty. Feelings behind our passion are often our reward for the work that we do.  When we care about others, we say to them that their lives matters. One thing that has taken a back sheet to our selfie culture is our ability to truly care about others. This can be how we treat each other on a daily basis and most definitely how we step up in a person's time of need. From caring, grows empathy, grows compassion, and ultimately leads to real change in our lives and the lives of those we come in
Read more

Manor College's Education LibGuide-Direct Links to Tabs

Here are the direct links to specific tabs Manor college LibGuide for the Education Program. I have added the names of them to the URL to make them easier to search:  How to Find Books Creating an Annotated Bibliography Lesson Plans and Rubrics Standards Statistics Children's Literature Head Start  TEDTalks  Podcasts and Videos Cherie's Recommended Library Great Educational Articles Great Activities for Children Websites  Professionalism in the Field and in a College Classroom Professional Associations Pennsylvania Certification Clearances Classes Tab:  Manor's Early Childhood Faculty Manor Lesson Plan Format  Manor APA Formatting, Reference, and Citation Policy for Education Classes Manor College's Guide to Using EBSCO Effectively How to do a Child Case Study-Best Practice
Read more

Reflection: How We Treat Each Other?

Image
 As I reflect on the past two years, I am reminded about how we treat each other truly reflects who we are. In the past year, so much pain, disruptions, and loss have occurred but one thing should remain strong: How we treat each other in a manner that uplifts. Lately, I am wondering how this got lost for some and stronger for others. As someone once told me, how you treat someone is something they will never forget. Although we may forgive, most never forget. Because the byproduct of a bad interaction can last longer than we think. Its ripple effect can come to revisit, over and over again.  So as we move into the late quarter of the year, I do hope we up our game in the following things: Empathy,  Compassion, Communication Be Kind, and Be Presence.   
Read more