What Kind of Teacher?

My friend and I were having a conversation about the kinds of teachers we want to be. Teachers tend to be *known* for something, either "the crazy teacher", "the tough guy", "the easy teacher", or even "the good teacher". Who do we want to be? Is this a conscious decision on our part? Will our personalities, paired with our efforts and preparation, be enough to come together to form us as teachers? Or is there more? I think the most important thing to remember is that students *know* when their teachers care. They can sense when a teacher loves teaching, and they can sense when a teacher would rather be doing something else. It is important to let kids know that you care about them, their minds, and their characters. I think it's an extremely important aspect to teaching... showing students you care about them, and that you're dedicating your life to bettering theirs.

Saying Good-Bye

Did anyone else find it extremely sad to say good-bye to any of your students? I've definitely come to find my "favorites" in my classes, and I know that I will not have these students next trimester... and you know what... I'm pretty darn sad about it!!

How do you deal with this as a teacher? Do we let our favorites know they are our favorites? And how do we say good-bye? Also, is it ok to even form favorites, or does that say something about ourselves as teachers if we do find ourselves forming favorites? Does it say to us we're not viewing each child the same? I'm not sure. Just a thought.

End of Trimester Thoughts

This past week was the end of our first trimester at Romulus High School. I am trying to form an opinion regarding the use of the trimester system in schools. I did not have this experience through high school, and I'm wondering the benefits of it. What are the drawbacks?
From what I've experienced at Romulus, having trimesters is helpful in that it gives students longer periods. This is helpful in some subjects, I'm sure, but I don't think it is very helpful in mathematics. Students generally learn a new topic one day and practice those problems for homework. Depending on the material, they can come into class the next day and ask questions and have more practice. On the third day, they will again learn something new. This works well if the students have a long semester and can dedicate one whole day to review. However, in trimesters, they only have about 3 months, instead of 4-5 months to get through the required material. Their class periods are longer, but students generally can't learn something new and on the same day practice it and review it. Most students need to do the homework and come back the next day to review after a good night's sleep. Many students do not have math during the second trimester, since it is only required for 2 out 3 trimesters. So they don't have math for 3 months or so, then have to come back and spend so much time refreshing their memories about what they'd learn 4 months ago.
I talked with my mentor teacher about this, and his is not an advocate of trimesters for these reasons. I do not think that the extended time in class each day compensates for missing math completely for 3 months.