Being Passionate about Teaching

I enjoyed watching the tech buzz presentations. It was nice to get information on topics that I knew very little about. After they were finished it got me thinking about how it is so important to be passionate about something and how that can truly affect ones teaching style. When we are passionate about what we do, I truly believe that students are more likely to get excited about learning, even thought it may not be a topic or content area they enjoy. I have no desire to play World of Warcraft or have I thought about how to incorporate that type of gaming into education. However, seeing Christine’s passion and excitement really caught my attention and I learned a lot more than I thought I would. It shows that there are so many avenues available for educating our students and we need to continue to keep our eyes and minds open. As educators, even though we may not like some of the content area we are teaching, it is important to “pretend or act” in a way that leads our students to believe what is being taught is significant(because of course it is…). We want to impact each student and provide those meaningful experiences. How many times have you heard a student say “why do we need to know this?” When we can have them think outside the box and show ways that this information is important to their lives, I feel they will be much more likely to pay attention. I know for myself this holds true. In the special education realm I have questioned why certain aspects are taught when I feel the focus should be elsewhere. However, I have had colleagues clarify and point out things I did not think of and I completely get it!