I'm a Bad Teacher/Teaching Resources

[SnMomof7]

I've come to the conclusion that I am not a very good teacher. I'm slightly better than I once was, but not much better. I can administrate a curriculum - if it is simple - but if I need to correct spelling, I can't always explain why the word should not be spelled a certain way, even if I know the correct spelling. I can write essays, but couldn't teach someone how to do so themselves. I can mark my child's grammar, but I still can't understand half of it.

 

I'm afraid I've spent more on curriculum over the years than on resources that equip me with the skills I need to be a better teacher.

 

I feel like this situation needs to be rectified.

 

Which resources have made you a better teacher?

[Tsuga]

Being a good teacher is 90% about patience, and 5% about being willing to get the answers and improve, and 5% about knowing how to get the answers and improve. It sounds like you have 95% plus a couple more percent since you've been able to get through. 98%? 97%?

You get an A.

 

My mom, when she taught me (afterschooling, summerschooling), didn't have all the answers. She's an emotional communicator. When I asked questions, she said, "That's a good question. Let's look it up."

 

My mom was the best teacher ever.

 

The best teachers I had at school were not the smartest, or the best explainers, but the ones who had faith in me. So step one: stop beating yourself up. You're doing one-on-one instruction with 6 kids and providing world-class infant care plus love to two more. If you're a bad teacher, I'm a flipping zombie. Say it with me: You are awesome. You are. You have identified an area for improvement: that's awesome of you. Get a hug from all your kids. You deserve it.

[Critterfixer]

You are not a bad teacher. There is no way in the world anyone can be an expert on everything. 

I don't always know why a word is spelled this way instead of that way. Sometimes I have to look in the dictionary to figure out how to spell one of my demons. I routinely misplace commas. This, despite books on comma rules to guide me. It has been years since I wrote an essay and the ones I wrote in college were pretty inferior things. 

And I have this totally illogical fear of poetry and French... :blushing:

 

Resources? For the past year and a half or so I've been working through things that I want to learn a little more about. I've got a nice grammar book now for myself. I've been working through Algebra all year. I know nothing about Art. I've been reading. I'm going to be working ahead in CW this year to stay ahead of the boys and figure out the whole, how-to-write-an-essay-classically bit. 

Basically, my curriculum purchases have gone up to support the third student in this house. Me.

 

And FWIW, standing up in front of a whiteboard and hearing your son correct your Latin construction, while embarrassing, is proof that at least the curriculum knows what it is doing! :tongue_smilie:

[mama25angels]

I agree!!!  You are not a bad teacher.  My nemesis is math, oh my goodnes, I can't even begin to describe our frustration with that subject.  Every.Single.Time I have a student going through Algebra and pre-algebra I have to relearn it.

[athomeontheprairie]

I agree with the pp, you aren't a bad teacher. But beyond not being so hard on yourself that doesn't help you become a better one, kwim? I'm glad that you asked for advice, and I'm listening in. Hopefully others with more experience will chime in with what has helped them be more effective teachers.

For me it is very important to take the time in the summer to refresh/relearn those skills that I seek to teach in the coming school year. It is important for me to remember that open and go curriculum isn't REALLY open and go, and I need to take time to really learn the material (Assuming I don't already know it), or understand the philosophy of the books.

 

 

as far as specific book suggestions. I have thoroughly enjoyed the knowledge deficit, why students don't like school, and anything by Ruth Beechick

[happypamama]

Honestly, that's why I bought WWE and WWS. I can put together a decent and reasonably coherent paragraph/essay, but I didn't feel comfortable teaching the children to do it by myself. I find the guided instruction really helpful, especially to know what is right to expect and what is too much to expect for a given age level. You're not a bad teacher. As someone else said, nobody is an expert in everything. That's why there are teacher manuals and so many options out there to help us along our homeschooling journeys.

[Rosie_0801]

Goodness. We can't have 20 years of experience until we've done this for 20 years. I'm not going to kick myself for that!

 

Currently I'm lapping up 'The Writer's Jungle.' I've been waiting for years to get my hands on it and I'm delighting in the actual *techniques!* They didn't really teach us to write in school. We just had to do it.

 

I'm getting a goodly bit of teacher ed from administering CSMP maths to dd.

[FO4UR]

A cheap used copy of WRTR will give you every answer you'll ever need for spelling.  I use it for a reference for myself, not a curric for the kids.

 

Our Mother Tongue is a good reference for grammar.

 

We all learn as we go. Mark these books up with sticky notes.

 

 

 

What books have made me a better teacher?  Charlotte Mason's books have had the most influence.  Self-education will take you very far, and CM's philosophy applies that self-education into beautiful teaching.  I don't always get it right, but when it's wrong it's usually b/c I was trying to apply the right material in the wrong way...when CM explained it all from the start if I would have just listened...

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

I think the resources depend on what you are trying to improve.  TWTM was very beneficial, and some of SWB's upper level books would give better knowledge in history, science, etc.  The Teacher's guide of Writing With Ease laid out a lot of steps in how to teach her writing philosophy.  Are you asking for resources to better equip you more in teaching methods or content?  I think many homeschooling families all learn together.  In many ways, education is no different in how we would teach a child about life.  Therefore, parenting books about how to understand your child and communicate with your child and learning styles would be beneficial.  If you want more teaching philosophy books, I think that depends somewhat on your style.  Charlotte Mason books if you like that or Ruth Beechick's books are good for many.  TWTM helped me a lot with classical education, and ACCS as well as The Circe Institute and Classical Academic Press were good resources for me for more of a classical style.  Also, there is a book about teaching from a state of rest that has been popular.  It might be beneficial for you to attend a conference.  Certain sessions may inspire you and help sharpen you and focus your efforts.

[ALB]

I actually spend a lot of time reading ahead in all our subjects.  Yes, I'm a nerd.  I often take a grammar book (or math or whatever) to bed with me at night to familiarize myself with the lessons and get a refresher.  I did fine in school, but of course I don't remember every thing I learned for tests.  I'm excited about the opportunity to relearn these things (and will probably do a fair amount of re-forgetting again, too).

 

Reading the classics has been my favorite source of self-education, and I enjoy it more than just reading books on education (but I sprinkle in some of those now and then, too).  Pushing myself to read more difficult works has been great for my vocabulary, writing, grammar and has just enriched my life a lot.  

[SnMomof7]

I think at it's core this is a question of self education. I really want to be able to look at my children's work and be able to pinpoint the errors in order to reteach and provide more practice. This is actually easier in math (elementary grades still) than it is in LA, and I DO NOT consider myself a math person!

[imagine.more]

I think like ALB mentioned just reading ahead in each subject could really help you feel more on top of things with teaching the specific topics and answering questions as they come up. ITA with others though that often the best teachers just have the character qualities of patience and kindness and are organized enough to keep everyone going. Those teachers will say "What a great question! Let's go look it up!" and know where to direct the students for answers. In this way you don't need to be an expert on everything and you actually build confidence in your children to seek out answers to questions and that asking questions is a good thing. 

 

If you're looking at just being more educated as a whole and more confident as a parent/teacher, SWB also has a great talk on educating yourself while you're educating your kids. 

 

Sometimes I find my least strong subjects are easier to teach because I've made those mistakes and see where the kids are coming from and how to fix them. I struggle to teach reading because I'm such a strong reader myself that I fight against that "but isn't it obvious!?!" reaction to every mistake, lol! So I use a scripted curriculum for teaching my dyslexic daughter to read and life is good. She's learning and I'm less stressed. Math I can easily teach in Elementary because I'm not as strong in that, just like you, and I think that's pretty normal to have an easier time teaching the subjects you are less comfortable with :) Being aware of those things in yourself is important.

[Hunter]

Homeschool moms expect to have doctorate level knowledge of all subjects, and know how to shove that into children before the end of 8th grade. Not possible. Not going to happen.

 

But what you CAN do is make a nice HOME and be a nice MOM. And you can teach them enough that they can go on to SELF-educate.

 

You can provide a foundation. Do not confuse foundation with doctorate level knowledge of a subject. They can be easy to confuse. A foundation is  a steady place to build, not all the why's and exceptions and rarities. A foundation is sometimes a lattice. Google "foundation of a skyscraper" and then click "images".

[8filltheheart]

I have to spend a lot of time being prepared as a teacher. It does not mean I have to know all the answers, but I do need a clear vision of what we are doing and my objectives for what we are studying. When I have used a box curriculum in the past, I was a worse teacher. I relied too much on expecting the lesson plans to guide and teach and not enough on my understanding the big picture and knowing the weekly objectives to be involved as an effective teacher. I have learned that I am just a better teacher when I have been engaged in the course from the beginning (which usually means actively planning the course.)

 

I don't do it for all courses. My kids do reach the point where there are some they completely self-teach (I know nothing about physics and very little Latin) or completely outsource. But if they are subjects I am directly involved in, intimate knowledge of the daily objectives just makes me a better teacher bc I know the questions to ask and the direction to take conversations.

[elmerRex]

I am not a home school expert, but here is what I do to help me grow as a teacher while my kids grows as students.

 

1) Recognize your own limits. Having a limit is not a bad thing if you find it and respect it. My limit is that I can not teach my kids to read in English. It isn't my first language, it isn't their first language. I don't even know how I read English, very difficult to explain to someone else. My son does not like English reading and we can't work on it together without a war. So he gets private tuition for lessons and reads at the house to practice what his teacher has taught him. Its very effective for us. When he is reading at a good level, we will stop with the private tuition and he will read at home.

 

2) Work ahead of the student through the students book. A Teachers Guide is a crippling device for many, I think. I try to understand the student material but not by reading about what the student is supposed to do to learn but by doing exactly what the student is expected to do.

 

3) I teach, direct and pace the lessons by what I know my kids CAN do, not by what they WANT to do and adjust if my estimation was wrong. My kids are young but I take control of the teaching instead of letting the kids do things at a wasteful pace. By making lesson time efficient, my kids get more out of them and get through them faster. You have to know how much the kids can take and push for just a little beyond that limit until it is comfortable, then change the pace again.

 

4) Home school is very time consuming, but with each child it should get easier. Because of my eldest son, I now have a hand written solutions manual of Math 54 and am making one for Math 65. Not because I can't do arithmetic already--I can and much, much better than the average adult in this country apparently--but because I need to be able to look at the material again as a student. I need to be sure that when my son is making a mistake I can tell why. I need to understand his thinking to understand his errors. By understanding where he is most likely to make a mistake, I can change the way that I present new material to teach him. By doing this with my oldest, I have learned so much about teaching. Next year, I will learn more about home schooling.

 

5) Make time to study for yourself. Do not think that you have to know everything. We have a family habit of quiet study time. My kids have grown up watching me and their dad study for a time in the evenings. We learn things as a group and each kid works on something of their own during family learning time.

 

 

I've come to the conclusion that I am not a very good teacher. I'm slightly better than I once was, but not much better. I can administrate a curriculum - if it is simple - but if I need to correct spelling, I can't always explain why the word should not be spelled a certain way, even if I know the correct spelling. I can write essays, but couldn't teach someone how to do so themselves. I can mark my child's grammar, but I still can't understand half of it.

I'm afraid I've spent more on curriculum over the years than on resources that equip me with the skills I need to be a better teacher.

I feel like this situation needs to be rectified.

Which resources have made you a better teacher?

 

 

[SnMomof7]

Thanks for your encouragement and ideas. This may seem to be inopportune timing, as I currently have less time with my hands free than I normally do. I can't seem to stop my mind from spinning on the topic of enhancing my teaching abilities through further self education.

[Stellalarella]

Jennifer, here is what helped me:

 

I found greater teaching ability through better understanding. Scripted curriculums, or curriculums that use repetitive phrases were the most helpful:  FLL, AAS, HWoT. I would never have thought of myself as a scripted curriculum kind of gal, but it was a great benefit to me as I continued to teach all my children.  What I might stumble through on the first kid, I was proficient for the ones following.  Sticking with one curriculum for a while helps with that.  

 

I also really enjoy learning about how people learn and best practices in teaching.  I typically am reading something about learning, teaching, what to teach, etc.  

 

Here are books that had a great influence on me.  I first acquired them through the library.

 

Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics by Liping Ma.  This is an academic treatment of what works in teaching mathematics.  It's not for the faint of heart, but it was an eye opener and game changer for me.  I became convinced that I needed to invest in a conceptual understanding of the math I was going to teach.  

 

The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.  This classic book is everything  a person needs to know to be convinced why reading aloud is the best gift you can give your kids.  It's a compelling read that argues the point well with both research and inspiring stories.  

 

Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom  by Daniel T. Willingham.  This book backed up my general thoughts on the instructional choices I was making for my kids.  Yes on learning math facts to proficiency.  Poo poo on the idea that kids must learn by their so called preferred learning style.  It gives the pathway on how people learn and remember.  Please read!

 

The Power of Play : Learning What Comes Naturally by David Elkind.  Play matters. 

 

Practice Perfect:  42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better by Doug Lemov.  Practice matters. 

 

Teach Like A Champion by Doug Lemov.  This is obviously a resource for classroom teachers, but it is very applicable to home school as well.  This book encouraged me to look at my teaching practices and find more effective strategies.  This book has a really wonderful section on teaching reading.  The book comes with a DVD to see teachers in action.  This book is a great resource. 

 

Climbing Parnassus by Tracy Lee Simmons.  This is a book arguing why an education in Latin and Greek is awesome.  And pretty much emphasizes the point that someone like me will only roll over the low foothills near Parnassus, but better to be inspired to at least imagine the top of Parnassus than to just sit in the valley studying current events as if there was nothing before me.  

 

The Well Trained Mind.  I still find it instructive to go back to that book.  

 

 

I also found help in listening to SWB's audio lectures.  If you can, download them all.  http://peacehillpress.com/audio-lectures/.  I have even played those in the vehicle while we are driving and the kids get to listen in as well.  

 

 

I like to read articles on the internet for inspiration or to challenge my viewpoint.  

 

How about some Don Potter?  Endless fount of article links on reading and handwriting instruction.

 

______

 

And now having dumped that huge list on you (that I have read over the past 5 years), a person doesn't have to try to learn and fix everything all at once.  Just pick one thing.  Do one thing.  Make one strategy in one area.   And if someone compliments you in one area that you are doing well in, remember the compliment.  :)   You have a lot on your plate with all those little ones.  Hugs to you.

 

 

 

 

[Junie]

Thank you for all of the advice and encouragement.  Algebra 2 is my current nemesis.  

 

I am hearing the voice of Edna from the Incredibles:  "Go, confront the problem. Fight! Win! "  

[desertflower]

Thanks for your encouragement and ideas. This may seem to be inopportune timing, as I currently have less time with my hands free than I normally do. I can't seem to stop my mind from spinning on the topic of enhancing my teaching abilities through further self education.

 

You have 2 newborns!  Of course you have less time.  ;)  But that's a good thing.  Boy, I would love to have 2 newborns.........

 

You'll be fine. 

 

As Hunter said, it's important being a good mom as I'm sure you are.  :) 

[happypamama]

Oh, and yeah, expect at least the first year or so to be crazy when you have a baby. Even longer if you have two babies! This season will pass.

[SnMomof7]

A cheap used copy of WRTR will give you every answer you'll ever need for spelling. I use it for a reference for myself, not a curric for the kids.

 

Our Mother Tongue is a good reference for grammar.

 

We all learn as we go. Mark these books up with sticky notes.

 

 

 

What books have made me a better teacher? Charlotte Mason's books have had the most influence. Self-education will take you very far, and CM's philosophy applies that self-education into beautiful teaching. I don't always get it right, but when it's wrong it's usually b/c I was trying to apply the right material in the wrong way...when CM explained it all from the start if I would have just listened...

Thanks :). Would you say Our Mother Tongue takes you to 'the end' of grammar? It's certainly affordable :).

[FO4UR]

Thanks :). Would you say Our Mother Tongue takes you to 'the end' of grammar? It's certainly affordable :).

 

 

It delves farther and deeper than I ever did in school, BSE, and part of a Masters...maybe that's not saying much (hehe, but I aced English classes and every paper ever written)...but yes, I think it's all the grammar a person needs at high school graduation. 

 

 

I've had a hair-brained idea lately.  Taking OMT as a "spine" for grammar, and self-educating while focusing on that grammatical bit during the children's copywork.  Pretty much what I already do, but to make things simpler for a BIG family and a busy mom...just focusing on that part that you are studying with everyone at their own level.  This would be opposed to working with each kid at their own pace....keeping each child at mom's pace.  I'm not sure how that would actually work, but it was a wonderful thought.

[SnMomof7]

Thanks so much. I'm a natural writer. I did very well in high school but was never taught much grammar there (or anywhere, really.)