Teaching 201 Traveling Beyond the Basics

Teaching 201 Traveling Beyond the Basics

The purpose of this book is to provide novice and seasoned teachers alike with guidelines for success during their careers. This is not a survival guide. Setting the goal of survival is too low a mark of achievement for you. This book will take you far beyond the gauge of survival into the area of success. Why tread water when you can win an Olympic medal in swimming? This book will help you become a medallist, one of the top contenders in the field of education. Your dogpaddling days are over. Imagine yourself standing on the podium with a medal around your neck and the national anthem playing. With the help of this book, you will surpass survival and become a confident, focused, effective, and successful professional.

Throughout my educational career, I have had the opportunity to be a “pro- fessional gypsy.” I taught self-contained elementary grades 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6. I also taught a combined third and fourth grade class (today known as “multi- age”) at a small rural school. I’ve also been a “special” teacher teaching ele- mentary music and Indian heritage. My career has extended to junior high (now called middle school), high school, undergraduate-level teacher educa- tion courses, and graduate-level courses. My teaching experiences have ranged from running off those old purple dittos to conducting interactive telecourses. I have over twenty years of practical teaching experience as well as a doctorate degree in educational administration with a study emphasis in school district leadership. I understand the role of the classroom teacher, the role of the ad- ministrator, and the role of the teacher education professor.As Scott’s mother, I understand the parental point of view from kindergarten through high school. I am able to view education from several vantage points.

LINDA HENSHALL WILSON