Use every Opportunity as a Teaching Moment

This summer has afforded me the opportunity to go from one end of the country to practically the other. While either flying in an airplane or driving through various states, I couldn’t help but think how I can bring my experiences to my students. One reoccurring thought kept popping up in my head; writing. Regardless of what we teach, students need to write. It is part of PACT and a part of the SAT’s. How can we make students better writers? Let them write about their experiences. I have seen the deserts in the west, drove through one of the biggest cities in our nation (New York, yikes!), and seen the beautiful coast line of the northeast. One way I can help my students write better would be to model how to write. I can show them how taking personal experiences will help them over the stumbling block of what to write about. New teachers, start writing about, or at least listing, what you have experienced as you begin your new journey. It will do you good and if the occasion arises that you can share your written pieces with your students, they will know you from a personal side, which will strengthen the student/teacher bond.