My Mother and her ‘Hippie” Philosophies
I suppose that a good place to begin with, in this case, is the end—“ I probably really have more of a ‘hippy’ philosophy on writing…you just have to hang out, find a quiet place, and do it…” (Personal Interview) This is part of an interview conducted between my mother and myself. She chose to place this description at the end, as a response to no question in particular, but rather as a final note that encapsulates her teaching theories and practices. Of course, my mother is not a literal “hippie” philosopher or teacher- she is very work oriented and goes to great lengths to ensure her students’ educational success. But, as a second grade teacher who devotes most of her spare time to the enjoyment of …show more content…
She began by stating what she feels will happen in the classrooms of the future; “I think we will link writing more and more to the content areas of social studies and the sciences. I think technology will have an impact on how we teach writing…with word processing and the 1 to 1 movements at many schools.” (Personal Interview) She elaborates further on these thoughts, but basically draws the same conclusion that has been taught to me in many of my college courses- no matter how the structure of the classroom or curriculum may change, an important part of being a teacher is being able to work alongside the class in order to fulfill their needs—“The students have great ideas and looking at their work gives you the best information on how to help them and what your writing programs should be.” (Personal Interview) My interview had left me with a great deal of questions…why does my mother believe this to be the future of writing? How should a teacher incorporate technology effectively in the writing classroom? Will writing curriculum change as drastically as it has in the past 30 years during my teaching career? How can hippie teachers like us encourage creativity while fulfilling the pressures of a growingly demanding curriculum? These are questions that I feel will be answered in time, but sadly cannot really have a definite answer
I suppose that a good place to begin with, in this case, is the end—“ I probably really have more of a ‘hippy’ philosophy on writing…you just have to hang out, find a quiet place, and do it…” (Personal Interview) This is part of an interview conducted between my mother and myself. She chose to place this description at the end, as a response to no question in particular, but rather as a final note that encapsulates her teaching theories and practices. Of course, my mother is not a literal “hippie” philosopher or teacher- she is very work oriented and goes to great lengths to ensure her students’ educational success. But, as a second grade teacher who devotes most of her spare time to the enjoyment of …show more content…
She began by stating what she feels will happen in the classrooms of the future; “I think we will link writing more and more to the content areas of social studies and the sciences. I think technology will have an impact on how we teach writing…with word processing and the 1 to 1 movements at many schools.” (Personal Interview) She elaborates further on these thoughts, but basically draws the same conclusion that has been taught to me in many of my college courses- no matter how the structure of the classroom or curriculum may change, an important part of being a teacher is being able to work alongside the class in order to fulfill their needs—“The students have great ideas and looking at their work gives you the best information on how to help them and what your writing programs should be.” (Personal Interview) My interview had left me with a great deal of questions…why does my mother believe this to be the future of writing? How should a teacher incorporate technology effectively in the writing classroom? Will writing curriculum change as drastically as it has in the past 30 years during my teaching career? How can hippie teachers like us encourage creativity while fulfilling the pressures of a growingly demanding curriculum? These are questions that I feel will be answered in time, but sadly cannot really have a definite answer