I am about to be fifty years old and I am embarking on a new career. in the past I have been a soldier, a bookkeeper, an advertising executive, a paralegal, and a real estate investor. For the last two years I have been working as a substitute teacher.
My education has kind of been all over the place. I was homeschooled until I joined the U.S. Army at age 17. They trained me to be a chaplain assistant, a personnel clerk, and a combat lifesaver (kind like a low level medic. All it really meant was that I could start IVs, treat for shock, and give morphine). The army also sent me to The Air Assault School.
About a year before I got out of the Army I took a class in sociology at Austin Peay State University and discovered that I enjoyed academics, so when I was discharged from the army and moved to California I started taking classes at De Anza College. I took a lot of classes in a lot of different majors just because I enjoyed them. I managed to earn tons of science credits even though I never majored in science. Chemistry and astronomy were two of my favorite classes. Biology, though it was easy was not as much fun. Neither were the medical assisting courses. I wound up getting an AA and a bunch of certificates in other stuff. The only part of my education that really helped me earn money was the stuff I learned while earning a certificate in marketing management. But the other stuff, especially history, philosophy, and literature was mostly just for fun.
When I was in my late thirties I decided to earn a bachelors degree. I looked at the schools around where I live but they were all super time consuming. They all required two years of study. Then I heard about a program at the university of Massachusetts for people with at least three years worth of credits (I had 5) but no degree. So, even though I didn't care for the major, I signed up and earned a degree with Latin honors. At first I thought, wow, Latin honors. Then I learned that almost half the people in my program got Latin honors, so I'm not as impressed with myself as I was. Grade inflation. What can you do?
After that, I was out of school for about a year and missed it. It's fun to write papers and get As, right? Instant feedback that says "Good job!" School is a fun, if expensive hobby. So I began taking classes at AMU toward a MA in ancient history. After completing all the course work I wrote my first thesis proposal (an archaeological critique of Gibbon's "Decline and Fall") and it was rejected because the panel thought it would be too long. Then I wrote my second thesis proposal (a history of the wine trade in the ancient near east from 4,000 BC through the reign of Phillip of Macedon) but the panel rejected it because they thought it would be to long. My third thesis proposal (a survey of pre-Julian wine labeling in the eastern Mediterranean) was rejected because the panel thought it wouldn't be long enough. So, at this point school was no longer fun so I stopped going. Oh, I almost forgot about earning a diploma in Orthodox Christian theology at The University of Eastern Finland. That was a year well spent! And then I got sick for a few years (I got better) and stopped going to school.
Ten years later I decided to become a history teacher. So I began taking classes at NU and passed the CBEST and the the social studies CSETs. But I can't do the student teaching (I have kids) and need an internship. So, I subbed for two years while trying to find a social studies internship. None was forthcoming so I took the science CSETs and now I am teaching 6th and 7th grade science on an internship credential while I finish up a M.Ed./Credential program NU. I never wanted to be a science teacher, but hey, you play the hand you're dealt, and you just might win the game.
The topic of meeting the needs of diverse students comes up a lot at National University. I think I might be at a disadvantage in answering a question about how I meet their needs because, fundamentally, all my students are people. I don't think kid A is all that different from kid B. Sure, some of them have different abilities, some are more intelligent, some are less intelligent, but that's why grades range from A to F. Some students will never understand that to turn meters into centimeters you just move the decimal point two places to the right. Some will be able to do it but won't know why it works. Others will understand it the first time they see it and instantly be able to do it in both directions, in three dimensions, and in liters and grams, too. But I give them all attention and explain to the best of my ability how things work. I don't let any of my students give up; science rewards persistence more than it rewards brilliance.
I took the little personality test for the class I am taking. I don't put much confidence in tests such as these nor in psychology, generally, but these are the results I got.
I don't really know what they are supposed to mean. They don't change the way I am going to regard people. They aren't going to be an excuse for treating people badly. I have heard people say, "He's acting like that because he's an ENTP." No, he was acting like that because he is a jerk. Just be kind to people. Give them better than they deserve.
When I took the North Carolina Teaching and Learning styles test I was nonplussed by the forced dichotomy of it. In most of the situations given I was not "more likely" nor did "I prefer to". Rather, I was often thinking both or neither. I got the feeling that this test was designed by a graduate student trying to come up with a theory about which to write a thesis.
I appreciated the disclaimer in the Grasha test: "As Grasha was reported as saying later in his life, I am no longer convinced that the survey measures much besides its preconceptions"
and I concur.
How will these test results change my teaching practice? They won't. I already know I much prefer reading and lectures to all other teaching and learning methods. Listening to, writing, and delivering speeches based on great books are my preferred method of teaching and learning. I also know that it isn't most people's preferred method of learning. So I do a lot of hands on stuff to help them learn.
What do I do besides school? I have a few hobbies. I am a federally licensed gun collector, a Boy Scout leader, and a gardener. (My pumpkins are bigger than your pumpkins.)
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