Teacher vs. Mentor

Background is missing on this post.

Right now, I feel like I want to be more of a mentor than a teacher. I feel like as a teacher, you are not supposed to get too involved in the personal lives of the kids/students. And I don't like that. I am not interested in superficial relationships; I want to know you for who you are. I want to come with you and support you through the things you are going through, and I don't feel like that is expected or suggested as a role that a teacher should play.
Teachers make an influence, one of the most significant ones in a child's life, if you ask me. And I want to make an influence too, but it is hard for me to see how I am having that influence, or feel like I am making a difference when I am standing so far away and pointing and talking. I feel much more comfortable sitting with you and talking over coffee or whatever. I like to be able to hug people and pray with them. But, I feel like this is forbidden in the role of teachers.
This is another aspect of teaching/school that I may talk on later: the perception students have of the way teachers perceive students. Because from my experience, I can count on one hand the number of teachers who have cared about me as a person (not as a test score) and still have fingers to spare. Now, I know I am not entirely accurate in that, but it feels like most teachers view teaching as a job, but not as a way of investing in their students. Maybe they started out that way, but they have forgotten. Or maybe they have been through enough 'red tape' and legalistic issues regarding forming real relationships (mentor-mentee) with students that they no longer see it as something worth trying. I don't know; I'm not in your shoes. And I don't know if I ever will be.

'Good' Online Sources?

What would classify as a 'good' online source? And how do you even know what it means to be a 'good' online source?

One way to verify the information on a page is to check it against other websites or the personal anecdotes of others. If you can verify your online source against another source, or even a couple other sources, especially ones that you know to be accurate, that is a sign of a good online source. This may mean that you have to find three sources instead of one, but most teachers will be impressed and be confident in your research if you have multiple sources that support each other.

When using online sources as instructional guides, it is very important to verify their credibility. Some guides can simply be found on youtube, and these can easily be checked against your own experience. For example, I recently used a youtube video to help me figure out how to use a new website to give a presentation. It was helpful and reliable, and the owner of the vide has a series of videos that explain how to use different websites and programs on the computer.

Yay learning! Not yay schooling!

So this first blog is something about education. I wasn't sure what to type about until I was talking with my friend about whether or not we like school. It came up that neither of us especially like school, but we both like to learn. So, what is the difference?

I mean, learning happens in school....or it is supposed to, isn't it? Can school happen without learning? I certainly think so. Can learning happen without school? Again, I certainly think so.

I really like learning. I like to know more about things that interest me, and even some things that don't interest me. For example, I gained an appreciation for astronomy after taking the class. I had no interest in learning about it, but school had me learn, and then I was more interested.

However, I think school may also be one of the primary reasons that people do not do things. I chose not to do band in college because I knew it was such a time consumer. I enjoy playing my trumpet (I found that out last week when I picked it up again) but it is hard for me to find the time to do things I enjoy more than that (like learning about my friends).

Maybe that is why I don't like school much. It tends to take time from me that I could have spent with friends. Above many things (perhaps even all except one) I enjoy learning about my friends. I like to know what they are going through, what they are struggling with, and I like to help them however I can. To be honest, I feel like I am doing something right when I am listening to a friend...when I am doing homework...that is not usually the case.

Homework...what does that involve? Reading textbooks mostly. How much does reading really help? For me, I'm not sure. Sometimes I feel like it helps, but at the same time, I don't think that knowledge, by itself, is of much value. Knowledge, along with (what I like to call) wisdom of how to apply that knowledge, is what is truly valuable.

Typing papers is also common. While typing seems to help me quite a bit, typing papers seems to be significantly less helpful. In fact, my friend and I discussed writing papers. Here are some of her thoughts:

I also dislike writing essays over subjects that really have no relevance to my life. especially with a minimum page length. If I can summarize the point in 3 pages, why does it have to be 10? In the same way, if I have a lot to say about the topic, why must I limit myself to 5 pages? It's annoying. Let me write. I'll give you what I think is appropriate for the topic and how interestingly it has been presented to me.

Now, lets be honest. How many of us can relate to that? Even those of us who are teachers, how many of us have been in that situation? Yet how many of us continue to follow the old

traditions? (for lack of a better word)

So what do you think? Do you enjoy school? Do you enjoy learning? If you enjoy one and not the other, why do you think that is? If we take the time to sort out these things, can we make learning and schooling better for our children?

Soon

...there will be more words here. Until then, I hope you look forward to seeing more words here!

This one will be more about education, my experiences in education, or my thoughts (about education). I suppose ideally it will be more professional, more shined up and looking spiffy than my other blog. But I suppose we will just see about that ;)