Caring is Caring

Anita Woolfolk recorded a podcast on the Importance of Teachers. I particularly enjoyed this podcast because it reminded me why I am pursuing a career as a teacher. When I tell people I am going to school to become a teacher many make a face as to say "Really?" or voice their negative opinion on the topic, such as "Are you sure you're going to find a job? Isn't that a thankless field? You're going to have to work two jobs just to get by because you'll make nothing in teaching". All over there are negative opinions about teaching and the school system, but Anita reminded me why I choose this path in the first place. Teachers can be some of the most important role models to students.

Anita spoke about the correlation between student achievement and efficient teachers. Anita recalled a study that followed a school districts third graders until fifth grade and found that students in a class with an effective teacher were in the 96th percentile on their mathematics achievement test (Woolfolk, 2006). They also found that the students who had the least effective teacher were in the 44th percentile on the same exam. This study showed the effects that a teacher has on a students achievement.

When an individual feels a connection with a place is when they are intrinsically motivated to participate and succeed. "Students have a sense of belonging when teachers care about the
m, their learning and their lives" (Woolfolk, 2006). Students need to feel that they are important and belong to the schools community. Without this relationship there are higher drop out rates and more students can fall into peer pressured situations to name a few. The following video is from a TED conference on education. Rita Pierson was an educator for forty years and grew up in a family full of educators. Take a look and see if you can see the similarities between student-teacher relationships and the achievement of the students.

References

Woolfolk, A. (2006, August 25). Podcast #1 - The Importance of Teachers. Anita Talks about      

          Teaching. Retrieved from https://anitatalks.wordpress.com/page/3/