I Teach Therefore I Can Essays -- Teaching Teachers Education Essays

I Teach Therefore I Can George Bernard Shaw wrote that â€Å"He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.† Based on this statement, Shaw was either able to do everything or was a poor teacher. A teacher must be able to do and then teach it to others. In order to do this, a teacher must first obtain the skills him/herself. Teachers have the responsibility of providing their students with the skills necessary for success later in life, and the most essential skills are the ability to read and write. As time evolves and technology advances, the skills necessary to get by in life have also progressed. As a result, it is no longer enough to be able to read and write on a basic level. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines literacy as â€Å"an individual’s ability to read, write, speak in English, compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual and in society.† (National Institute for Literacy). As a teacher, this definition is two-fold as it is the teacher’s responsibility to be literate in the profession as well as prepare his/her students to be literate in their own future professions and society. In order to be literate in the profession, teachers need to know and understand the federal and state standards and be able to apply and incorporate the standards into their daily lessons. Furthermore, a teacher needs to be able to interpret the standards in order to adapt them to fit their students’ needs. According to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards website, a teacher also needs to know the pedagogy, the subjects they teach and be able to know how to teach those subjects to students in a manner that promotes f... ...te a high proficiency in reading comprehension, analysis and writing ability. Teachers are affected by this in more than one way as they not only need to be literate themselves but also assure that their students are literate as well. By understanding the external influences on the development of literacy, teachers can ensure that their students will become adept readers and writers. In society today, a teacher must educate his/her students by example thus, a person who can, teaches. Works Cited Bertrand, Nancy P. and Carole F. Stice. Good Teaching. Heinemann: Portsmouth, 2002. National Association for the Education of Young Children. 25 Jan. 2004. . National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. 23 Jan. 2004. . National Institute for Literacy. 21 Jan. 2004. .