C4T#3 Summary

C4T3 Comment #1
Angela Maiers is an author, speaker, and teacher. Her post Three Ways to Avoid New Teacher Burnout is geared toward aspiring and new teachers. She mentions that the statistics for new teachers still teaching after the first five years is low. This is something education students hear often. She gives tips for first year teachers. She says:

1) Realize you can’t do it all.
2) Don’t sign up for everything.
3) Solicit the help of expert teachers.

I commented that professors are still warning students of the statistics today. And that I think her tips are definitely something teachers should keep in mind during the first few years. There is a lot of pressure on new year teachers to take on extra activities. It can become too much for teachers who are new to curriculum and instruction. New teachers need to realize they cannot do it all.

C4T3 Comment # 2
Angela’s post You Have to Show Kids that They Matter was written after Angela spoke with two teachers on a radio network. Angela states that students need to know they matter. She says it is an innate need for humans to know they matter. She reports that after asking kids, “What would you pledge yourself to?” The results boiled down to 12 things including: “I want to be noticed. I want you to smile at me. I want you to say my name.” Angela makes a good point when shes adds that “the need to hear one’s own name is why two hundred million people are sending Tweets everyday.” We like to be noticed. She concludes that she would love hear from other teachers on the following:

Pledges made in their classrooms.
Feelings on being a teacher and friend of students.
How do you make your students feel that they matter?
How do you make your students feel noticed?

I think Angela’s outlook on making students feel important and noticed should be highly valued. Some students spend more time with teachers than they do their own parents. Teachers can be a friend, authority figure, and educator all in one. And they should be. I believe if students feel important and valued they will be more interested in learning.