Nobody tagged me for this meme, I just took it from Clay over at Beyond School, which is a very awesome blog by a high school English teacher.

Before you read, remember, tag yourself if the thought of expounding on these topics interests you and keep in mind that as an unschooler the word teacher doesn’t have to be a dirty word. You can change it to facilitator if it makes more sense to you, but for the sake of simplicity, I’m keeping it! Just to keep people hopping, I’m tagging these bloggers: Andrea, Summer, Lori, Christine, Sarah, Kimmy and Samuel. Feel free to ignore the tag if summer is too busy for this sort of thing.

Teaching Meme

1. I am a good teacher because…I care about each of my students personally and know them well. Also, I try to let my kid’s curiosity be the guide and don’t shove learning down their throats. Well, not anymore at least. I also recognize their weaknesses and try to shore them up with other skills or help chip away at them. I wouldn’t really go saying I’m a good teacher, but the number one thing I recognize is that just by homeschooling my kids, they’ve been able to keep their self-esteem intact and that gives them the gumption to explore wherever and whatever they chose.

2. If I weren’t a teacher I would be a…well, if I weren’t a homeschooling madre, I’d probably be a high school English teacher by now, or a children’s librarian. Also, I’d be a published author with upwards of 12 bestselling books. Why not? You going to build a time machine to prove me wrong? Oh, a food critic or maybe a travel writer too.

3. My teaching style is…flexible, adaptive, child-centered, with touch of Professor McGonagall just to keep them on their toes.

4. My classroom is…most frequently my car, Chuggy. That seems to be when they want to talk about science, history and politics. In the last week for example, we’ve talked about the possibility of time travel, time being relative, the concept of immortality and myths about immortality,the evolution of warfare, tricks for multiplication and musicals.

Sometimes my classroom is the computer. The kids have programs they work on via computer and I am often called to the carpet to help explain things. Sometimes my classroom is the world, we go on field trips and nature walks and the questions arise. Sometimes my classroom is the living room floor, the couch or the kitchen table, where arts and crafts pop up and techniques and ideas are swapped. Stories are read there and appreciation of handwriting, phonics progress and calligraphy skills are expressed there.

5. My lesson plans are…empty shells in my mind that get written in retrospect. Sometimes they are annual goals on paper that get checked off or forgotten as new and more exciting realities fill the void. Sometimes they are inspired pieces of genius that get rejected out of hand by insolent short people. Sometimes, our ideas mesh and good things happen.

6. One of my teaching goals…to survive with some interests of my own, still loving kids enough to move on to teaching in the broader world. I’m feelign good about that.

7. The toughest part of teaching is…for me? Trust and patience.

8. The thing I love about teaching is…the apples? Duh, being with my kids. Hearing and seeing their world expand as they understand and endeavor to grow and add more texture to their lives.

9. A common misconception about teaching is…I’m not even going to go there. But I do notice that a lot of people who don’t really dig dealing with kids most of the time have an idea that teaching is a sort of horror show. I think the truth is that most teachers teach because they admire children and the way they think.

10. The most important thing I’ve learned since I started teaching is…it isn’t like the world of adults where well laid plans get carried off without hitches because everyone knows their role. More often it is like bailing water in a hurricane. Although your goal is clear, time is roaring past, other factors are involved which you can’t even begin to define the parameters of and you are admired more for your bravery than for your ability to solve every concern neatly. During the mayhem, things you intend to help are often accepted grudgingly, but things you say and do are what really get absorbed and mirrored.