https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l Decide on a metaphor that describes you as a teacher and explain why en-us 2021-06-16 04:25:01 UTC 2021-06-23 02:19:19 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1613560429 As a hiking guide, I would help students navigate through the dense forest of learning. Along the way I will point out pathways for scenic views and also warn of unsafe trails to avoid. All of us are on the hike and we have to work together to complete the journey. When we reach the end of the hike, students gain knowledge and confidence, and are able to continue their journey to higher levels.]]> 2021-06-18 02:58:44 UTC https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1613560429 https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1615816955  A cook  can make many different dishes out of the same ingredients by changing the way they cook the ingredients (boil, broil, bake or sauté) and how they season (mild, spicy, sour, sweet salty). A cook is  able to alter and adjusts their cooking according to season or to the resources and facilities available to them.  A cook might try new ingredients and  intricate time consuming cooking techniques one day while going for the easy and familiar the next day. A  cook can choose to follow the recipe or they can improvise,  sometimes they can or have to do both. A  cook aims to provide sustenance and care, to instruct and inspire while putting out fires. ]]> 2021-06-20 02:18:59 UTC https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1615816955 https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1616621930
I like to think of my teaching as a mind altering drug - bear with me here!

Often my subject area involves teaching students that they cannot believe their own eyes, nor their own memory. I teach about complex visual memory errors, and the ways in which our eyes can fool us (e.g., visual illusions.) I like to think I can take this a little further to demonstrate the importance of critical thinking. Students should come away with a fresh outlook of the way they see and experience the world - and the importance of questioning everything, including their own memories. ]]> 2021-06-21 01:07:21 UTC https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1616621930 https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1616823103 A colour glasses vender. 

As someone teaching about everyday social behaviour I often am teaching about behaviours students have seen a million times before. When you ask "why did that woman yell at that child in the street?" students have read answers "it's the child's mother" which don't get to the processes and hidden contexts behind the yelling behaviour. 

So, I like to think I come in and give them a new pair of glasses with tinted lens to wear which lets students see some things that are otherwise hidden - like maybe economic motives for the yelling behaviour. 

The new tint on everything may be jarring, and confusing, but grounding the students in knowledge from their own experiences again, helps to situate them. With these new ways of viewing the world and human behaviour will, hopefully, get them to practice these skills in all walks of their life. ]]> 2021-06-21 03:07:26 UTC https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1616823103 https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1617206883 My proposed metaphor is a dog trainer. I have the utmost respect for my learners/students and also for professional dog training, so please don't think that in making this comparison I am thinking any less of the students by comparing them to dogs.

When training dogs, we have to understand the world the best we can from the point of view of the dog, not from our own. This is what will enable communication. Example: dog pulls the leash too much. Instead of pulling back, which does not work, we need to decide how to make the walk more interactive so that the dog checks in with us and engages during the walk: we have to become more interesting than the distractions around us on a walk. This requires that we think how is the dog feeling? We also have a responsibility to lead with fairness and integrity. This is the only quality which will earn a dog's respect and it is what will enable them to look to you for guidance. Yelling at them, or, on the other hand, baby-talking them all the time, is not going to give the impression that you are a fair and competent leader.

To translate this to teaching human students: I believe the most important quality a teacher should have is a mixture of empathy/care and structure/leadership. In the past I have been too far on either side, trying too hard to present myself as a leader without really connecting to students on their level, or the opposite: trying too hard to be their friend without remembering that they have to respect me through seeing my actions of integrity and leadership. I have also found that (yes, just like dogs) all of us humans, teachers and students, while we love to improvise and have fun, thrive on an underlying sense of structure where it is very clear what is expected of us and what the aims of the course are. ]]> 2021-06-21 07:27:03 UTC https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1617206883 https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1617440345 As a parent my job is to guide my children to be the best versions of themselves that they can be.  Sometimes this means holding their hand and helping them, other times it means standing back and watching them grow, while always providing them with the knowledge that they are safe on their journey.
I see my role as a teacher the same way.]]> 2021-06-21 10:44:10 UTC https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1617440345 https://padlet.com/hayley_mcgrice/9jdu3v6dmk6hl82l/wish/1620483907 As a gardener, every seed starts off looking very similar, and needs focused nurturing to initially grow into a seedling. Once this initial growth phase is established the plant starts to grow more independently and establish it's own unique traits, still needing guidance and support from the gardener. Eventually, the plant will consolidate it's self, such that it no longer needs support from the gardener, except for in particularly challenging circumstances

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