Presence

In my Teaching for Learning class, we had to read an article by Carol R. Rodgers and Miriam D. Raider-Roth on the presence in teaching (the name of the article). The majority of the article hits upon what it says in the title, having a presence in the classroom as a teacher. It talked about having passion for the material and bring forth excitement. With that in mind, make yourself known within the classroom and be in the present moment. We live in a society that is too far in the past or too far in the future. What I found to be interesting was the fact that they used a quote by Henry David Thoreau. The quote was "To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake. How could I have looked him in the face." Thoreau knows how to get some ideas across in his writing but this quote I have a hard time trying to wrap my mind around. What I can gather from the quote is that we, as humans, are not alive. We claim to be awake but are we truly alive? That is something that we must find out ourselves. Personally, I am alive and awake each day. I try to live in the present but what is ahead and behind ties me down. That needs to stop. That is where stress begins. What I try to do to get out of those thoughts is to free my mind. Meditation and acknowledging the present is what I try to do each day. That will be something that I would carry over when I go into the field.
 Another part to today's blog has to do with what should the learning community that I would be teaching in would think and say about me. When I mean learning community, I mean students, parents, colleagues, administrators and other individuals.  I never gave a close thought to this. I believe that they should all have high respect for me along with sense of reliance when it comes to various situations. I want to be the go to person. My philosophy in life is to lead by example. They need someone to look up to and acknowledge whenever things go the other way. What the learning community should think of me is the same kind of question of why I am in this field. I want to inspire, motivate and educate everyone who steps into my classroom. I want a safe learning environment that everyone can access to. There will be no discrimination. Everyone is equal in my eyes. What needs to change in the education field is a progression of better, smarter learning. I consider myself progressive in my approach to education, not a rebel. I want to change the face of education in America and bring it up to the ranks of educational systems in Scandinavia and other parts of the world. I might be preaching to the crowds on this but this is what I believe in education. What others should think is up to them but to know that I am here to educate, motivate and inspire them with what they want to do with their lives.