Teachers have the very important responsibility of shaping the lives of
young, impressionable children. With this responsibility comes great
pride and joy. Therefore all teachers should strive for what can be
considered to be a "good teacher."
Teachers, especially at the elementary level, must be very creative with
their teaching styles. Not every child learns the same way, nor are
they interested in the same things. It is difficult to keep the
attention of 15-20 children under the age of ten. Classroom setup and
design is a good way to get and keep the attention of students.
Workstations are a good way to encourage different types of learning. By
allowing children a chance to choose which activities they want to
participate in, children are taking control of their own education. At
the elementary level, children are always learning and sometimes don't
even know it. When I was in kindergarten, I can remember playing at the
different stations in the classroom.
One station was for gardening and we could plant seeds and check them
every day to see how much they had grown. Another station in that
classroom that sticks out in my mind is the arts and crafts station.
There was a large array of crayons, markers, scissors, construction
paper and building materials we could use to make pretty decorations to
give to our parents for our homes.