reflective paper 10

A believer in me.
I believe the statement “The teacher is the gatekeeper.” Is a very accurate statement, and hold true. Elementary teachers especially hold the title “gatekeepers” to high standards, as they should. Being an elementary teacher you have to teach kids the basics, the beginning to no end. You teach your kids what they’ve never been taught, and you install in them the right and wrong. You remember your elementary teachers if they hold a significance in your life. Most teachers don’t but there are a few that do. These teachers are the “gatekeepers” to the schools. If your teacher has successfully taught you everything she knows and you are able to use it in everyday life, the “gatekeeper” has done its job. Our job as teachers isn’t to let you eat us out of our misery. We must teach you and inform you on things you don’t know, but will learn and be able to put them into good use. What is the point in reading, if you don’t apply it by reading menus, books, magazines, articles? What about math, why teach you numbers if you can’t add, subtract, divide, multiply, or even count money. I believe being a gatekeeper is to show you beyond your schools setting and allow you to use your knowledge outside of the class room. You are in elementary for only so many years, once you get out what will happen then? You continuously grow, and continuously gain knowledge for your benefit. How am I to not let you expand your knowledge and impact your own life? The gatekeeper has an impact because they teacher holds the key to your future. Even though you send your kid to school to learn, unfortunately there are only a few who can grasp the information, and let the “light” shine on a student. Of course since all teachers can’t all be “gatekeepers” we have standardized test. Third grade students recently have been failing the FCAT because they can’t read. Is it because teachers aren’t doing their job, or is it because the student’s aren’t retaining the knowledge? Either way, our “gatekeepers” are slowly disappearing, without new ones to replace them. It’s hard to find a good teacher now a-days because of the passion and knowledge about a classroom, and how students react towards their teachers. Being a teacher isn’t a walk in the park, it’s as if you have three jobs on your shoulders, a teacher, parent, and day care. Yet half of the teachers out there don’t even do the teaching part. There too busy being a day care then giving the children the knowledge that they need. Hopefully we can get back our “gatekeepers” and shine some light on what our next generation has to offer us.