Reflecting on Articles

So I am finally catching up on some educational reading sent by Karl, "It's Not What We Teach; It's What They Learn" and "Put Understanding First" (I know, a bit late). Both articles were interesting and gave me some food for thougtht. I have a few favorite quotes from the articles that I cannot stop spinning through my mind.

1. "I taught a good lesson even though the students didn't learn it"

2. "What we do doesn't matter nearly as much as how kids experience what we do" -Alfie Kohn

3. "Every educator ought to make a point of trying somthing new in their own lives, something they must struggle to master, in order to appreciate what their students put up with every day" -Alfie Kohn

4. "It's not to help students get good at school, but rather to prepare them for the world beyond school-to enable them to apply whay they have learned to issues and problems they will face in the future."-Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

Reading these articles and thinking about the implications of my teaching of course lead me to more reading (that is what always happens). Here are some other interesting things I came upon that also made the wheels in my head spin:

1. Should be a teacher’s job to motivate students to learn. (Many teachers feel that it is not their job and students should come to class predisposed to learn.)

2. There is a tremendous advantage if teachers truly remember what is was like to be a kid (teenager).

3. I am teaching students first content second.

These quotes got me thinking about teaching. What is good teaching? What defines success within a classroom? Good quiz scores? When we think about learning do we simply analyze data? What am I doing in the classroom on a daily basis to deepen understanding? Am I bringing a passion for learning and empowering students to be able to apply new knowledge and realize how to become independant thinkers?