Chapter 8-I apologize for consistently writing too much.

The classroom that I visited today was a real life example of the impact of teacher presence, and instructional variety can have on a class. These two elements alone were postive contributions to student behavior and engagement with the lesson (today anyway). I can only imagine what would happen if a teacher asked interesting questions, rewarded students, and encouraged their involvement in discussion.

I don't think that great teachers are necessarily born, but practiced and developed through trial and error. This article offers valueable teaching tools and suggests some constructive ways to observe the classroom so that we can become effective instructors. However, I agree with Roger that students/teachers then need to practice the theories set out and studied from books.

I will reiterate what I wrote in my most recent reflection. I think the teachers presence is a huge part of setting the climate within the classroom. Body language accounts for something like 80 percent of all communication. That means 20% is acutally what is said. The rest of our communication is how it is said, body posture, facial expression, and energy level.

In my opinion, the foundation of the classroom is a teacher with a stable, engaging presence. Emotional needs play a large role in how people at any age choose to interact. By setting a tone and establishing the classroom as a place of inclusion, and valuing student contribution, students may be more likely to participate, to take risks, and to learn. Some positive things that I observe teacher doing are not talking to fast, articulating words and thoughts, being aware of the tone of voice, and taking time to be and feel grounded and centered in their own bodies.

This is the foundation of the classroom, and it requires the teacher to be able to cultivate alot of awareness. But in order to do the things this article suggests, a teacher has to be aware of many things. A teacher must be able to identify student needs, to observe student behavior, to listen to students, and to be aware of themselves. Being a teacher is demanding and in order to actualize the ideas of educational theorists, the teacher has to be steady, and they have to build a toolbox of ways to repond to the fluctuations of human needs and the varieties that they may come in.

Creating a variety of activies, asking probes and questions, finding different rewards and reinforces, apply to that toolbox, but, again, a teachers ability to do these things may depend on practice and be strengthened by the tone the teacher sets.