Becoming a teacher is a calling. It is dedicating one’s self to life-long learning and discovering for both you and your students. Parker Palmer in his book, The Courage to Teach, states many teachers choose to teach “for reasons of the heart, animated by a passion for some subject and for helping people learn” (1998, pg. 17).

Palmer poignantly asserts that effective teaching involves three complexities: (1) subject – having a command of the content, (2) students – to see them clearly and see them whole, and respond to them wisely in the moment, and (3) self - knowing yourself is as crucial to good teaching as knowing your students and your subject. Thus, effective teaching is the result of interweaving the complexities and creating optimal learning conditions for each and every student. 

Unfortunately, in the day-to-day frontline of teaching many teachers lose heart as the years of teaching go by. A few lose heart for the subject matter, some lose heart for their students, and sadly, many lose their own heart. They find themselves frustrated, devoid of eagerness and motivation, and intellectually and emotionally absent from the classroom.

In an effort to bring passion back to your teaching and to create the optimal teaching / learning experience for you and your students, this workshop focuses on helping you gain new insight into your students and their needs, as well as insight into yourself as a teacher, enabling you to make the essential teacher-student connection.

Utilizing experiential activities and discussion, workshop participants will be given the opportunity to identify and understand:

Ø      how personalities are shaped;

Ø      the social-emotional stages of human development;

Ø      your students’ Spectrum Learning Style Profiles;

Ø      your unique Spectrum Teaching Style Profile;

Ø      effective teaching / learning techniques for each learning style; and

Ø      strategies for applying and integrating each learning style into the classroom.