I love a good discussion and getting students to take a look at their own values and opinions and have a forum where they can have an open discussion with only a prompt from the teacher and no bias as to the instructors feelings. I grew up in classrooms where discussions were not very prevalent and teachers had a way of throwing in their opinion to their out and influencing students. We never had a great venue to talk about issues and when the teacher would provide prompts for discussion it was to be written and not talked about.
When teaching lit to young adults there are always going to be subject matters that arise that are going to have varying opinions and where students will have questions and are looking to have meaningful talks. It is my desire for my classroom, whether it be Social Studies or English, to be a venue for discussion and debate. I feel that this environment is critical for student growth and development. I want to keep my views and opinions to a minimum and allow the students the opportunity to find their own voice. I hope that as in the case of teacher Steve, I too will be surprised and proud as my students pave their own way.
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