Week 02: “Is the great American Teacher dead?”

 “Is the great American teacher dead?” (2012) by John Ivers. He describes many concepts, principles, and elements that a great ESL teacher may have. Ivers gives us some tips to help engage our students and to become a better teacher principle to resurrect meaningful, effective, and Consciousness Raising Instruction”. He explores that great teachers are not only knowledgeable, but they are also capable of delivering the message with such passion to their students. 

As a teacher of a future TESOL class, this article was very insightful and helpful to me because I consider that teachers must guide, inspire, help our students become critical thinkers where we can deepen the teaching, and it has value for it. A good teacher uses a diversity of tools to have student's participation and engagement in their learning. Ken Bain (2004) shared a facet of metacognition, they were “thinking about thinking” helps them reflect to “new levels of consciousness”. How important as teachers we can make our classrooms a comfortable place for learning, where our students can achieve their goals, objectives, and project into the future.

We live in a world where everything changes every day, where technology advances, and our students are immersed in that world that is why learning goes beyond books and programs, if not it is to connect them with reality, with their tastes, passions. Ivers said, “… a little intensity, a pinch of dynamism, a little inflection of the voice here and there will do a lot of good.” We are more than teachers to these students. We become their friends, mentors, and so much more. They trust us to help them throughout their journey of learning.

 

References:

Ivers, John J. (2012)  Is the Great American Teacher Dead? Principles to Resurrect Meaningful, Effective, and Consciousness Raising Instruction.  Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, Volume 18.