Thursday, March 17, 2011

Are Educators Life-Long Learners?


If we, educators, love teaching then, we love learning as the former
implies the latter. As Vicky Loras (@vickyloras) expressed in one of her latest posts "Number three-What do you believe about
learning?- The 30 Goals Challenge", A good teacher is also a good
learner. Vicky has been writing insightful reflections on The 30 Goals Challenge created by Shelly Terrell (@ShellTerrell), both of whom are colleagues and mentors of mine and I feel thankful to them for being so supportive, personally and professionally.

Many times we forget how a student feels when they start learning a new language and it's difficult to gain insight into the language learning process from scratch. Imagine I started learning English when I was 6 years old and even if I can remember my classes, my memory is not so weak, I don't have any idea as to the way I felt in those times. So as to be able to be in my students' shoes, I've decided to start studying French. When I told my students about it, they looked at me in surprise but I guess it's a good way of showing students that it's never too late to learn a language and that teachers can also be learners. The line between teaching and learning is fragile and movable.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Marisa!

    Thank you so much for mentioning my post, first of all and thank you also for commenting : )

    I love the fact that you have decided to learn French - your students must be thrilled to have a teacher who continues to love learning.

    And I am definitely keeping your last quote: "The line between teaching and learning is fragile and movable." One of the most well-put statements I have read recently!

    Hugs sis!
    Vicky

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  2. Hello Vicky!

    Thanks for your lovely comment!
    Hugs,
    Marisa

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  3. Hi Marisa!

    It's great that you started studying French! Most teachers I know are life-long learners, really enjoy studying, miss it when they're not doing it. I know I do :-)

    Let us know how the French studies go!
    XX

    Ceci

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  4. Hi Ceci!

    Thanks for your comment and for your support!
    I´m a true beginner in my French classes and I'm still practising some of the phonemes. The one I've found really hard is the one corresponding to the letter "r" but I'm hopeful that I'll learn.
    Merci beaucoup!
    Marisa

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