[StBernard] Week or day in Review:

[Westley Annis]

Westley, 
 
 I do think teachers need certification.  It is one thing to be proficient
in a subject such as math, and another thing to be able to convey that
message to children or adults in a way that can teach them or make them
understand.  That is a big part of a teacher's education, techniques of
teaching and conveying information.  My daughter is a certified high school
math teacher.  She was always great in math, starting from grade school when
she would always score 100% on the math section of the standardized tests
and was identified in the Duke talent search in math.  But, she was a not a
good teacher.  No matter how much she would try to help her younger
siblings, classmates, or tutor and help her friends, she could not make them
understand.  She would get frustrated and so would her "students".  She went
to college to become a secondary education math teacher on a math
scholarship from tops, and other math scholarships she was granted.  Now
that she has learned to become a teacher, she loves it.  She now knows "how"
to teach math to others and not just try to show them or make them
understand in an untrained way.  She is an excellent teacher and gages
herself on how well her students do.  If they don't do well, she feels it
reflects on her teaching skills, not the student.  So I think it does make a
difference if a teacher is certified.  Sorry, but your wife is right this
time and I would not want my children's teachers to be uncertified.
 
Laurie