Teaching Metaphor

A response to the Your Metaphor Activity
created by Alexandra Hudyma (@akhudyma)

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I have a few core values that I try to portray as a teacher. I undoubtedly prefer the “Guide on the Side” approach to facilitating learning, compared to the “Sage on the Stage”. Aside from using student feedback to help guide lessons and giving them tools to learn material for themselves, I find it valuable to relate to my students, point out that I make mistakes all the time just like they do, and praise them when they inevitably come up with ideas that are better or just different than mine.

Additionally, I teach with the intention that they should understand the material so well after learning it, that they could turn around and be the one teaching it. Having to explain a concept always promotes a deeper level of comprehension, and asking questions while teaching like “why is it like this?” “why not this?” “what would happen if it were done this way?” helps them to consider the content more deeply.

So, my image is a of a relay race – to show that I’m on the same team as my students, and I’m merely passing along information that they can then pass on to their other teammates.