Reaching My Students Through Real World Experiences Essay -- Education

Reaching My Students Through Real World Experiences High school teachers face the challenge of preparing their students for the real world. Students need real world preparation, not just acumen. Reaching my students involves building encouraging relationships and a sense of security within the classroom. Sharing my personal experiences, as well as the testimonies of others, can be an effective motivational tool for preparing college-bound students for the real world. My role as a teacher involves communicating the many obstacles college students face. Providing students the psychological preparation they need will alleviate fears and frustrations high school seniors often face while anxiously anticipating the vast college experience. Jeffery Hart’s article, How to Get a College Education, discusses the uncertainty college Freshmen face. These new students need the assurance that changing majors is O.K. and most likely will happen. Reducing the psychological stressors, such as intimidation and peer pressure, helps to maintain a secure learning environment. Students entering college are often overwhelmed and muddled by so many choices. High school teachers must prepare their student’s for the possibility that not having a major in mind is completely normal for most college Freshman. Hart suggests focusing on your ‘specialization,’ by your gifts, attributes, and strengths (128). Questions he raises include: What area of education are you seeking and what are your expectations? What are your course selections? Hart is against the â€Å"Studies† courses that enrich one’s social understanding and place in this world (128). Personally, these courses provided me the capability to see how other fellow students and their cultures view... ...e discusses the importance of creating a welcoming environment for students; one that provides them with a non threatening environment. He admits, â€Å"a failed education is social more than intellectual in origin† (107). Therefore, breaking this social tension can enable our culturally diverse students to shine to their ability level. We can accomplish this by getting to know our students regardless of the time and effort that it takes. As Rose states, â€Å"we need to invite students across the boundaries of the often threatening classroom† (116). These boundaries can be broken when teachers utilize the resources from their past experiences. Bring nature into the classroom and then bring the classroom to nature. This alleviates the tensions experienced during the transitional period when students venture out into the real world. The real world now becomes familiar ground.