“Being a teacher is like being a cook…”

- Natalie Bower

When cooking you need to use different tools to achieve different results.

It is the same in teaching as different learners require different techniques and resources to help them achieve success.

“resources are a critical element in the interactions that occur between teachers and students in classrooms.” (Marsh, 2008, p.193)

Any good cook will recognise the beautiful tastes that come from exploring the culinary delights from cultures around the world.

In the same way a great teacher will embrace the cultural differences of their students and encourage children to bring their cultural capital into the classroom.

When cooking it is always fascinating to see how ingredients which may be completely different, can complement each other. You can put together various spices and herbs and they enhance each others tastiness, and make the end creation even more delicious!

In teaching it is the same as children who have very different learning styles and abilities can work well together. It is beneficial to the learners who can relate to one another and explain new ways to look at problems that they may not have thought of.

The key to success in the kitchen is to following a well tested recipe that has been developed over time.

It is fun for cooks to add their own personal touch!

Recipe:

I think that this is mirrored in teaching as it is important to be guided by the New Zealand Curriculum and the goals that it sets, but at the same time I think it is important to bring

your own personality and add your own flavour to your classroom.

There are many different There are many different tastes in cooking, people tastes in cooking, people

may prefer their food to be may prefer their food to be sweeter or more savoury.sweeter or more savoury.

This is reflected in teaching as

different students like

different things, some students like drawing, others like

running around and playing,

other children love to read and

some love animals.

Howard Gardner put this into his theory of multiple intelligences. He suggests that every person can be

intelligent in areas such as…

• Linguistic• Logico-mathematical

• Musical• Spatial

• Bodily-Kinaesthetic• Naturalist

• Interpersonal• Intrapersonal

These different strengths are what makes children different and will influence their like and dislikes.

(Berk, 2009, p. 241)

As a teacher it is our job to add a pinch of salt or a sprinkle of sugar and try to engage the passion and tastes of our students by adding what they love to our classroom.

Using PowerPoint To Express My Metaphor.Strengths:• I think that having the slides visible down the left hand side of

the page was excellent as it helped me keep my ideas in sequence as I worked through explaining my metaphor.

• I think that PowerPoint was easy to use as it has a similar format to Microsoft Word and Publisher. This meant that it was easy to insert pictures and edit text.

• Another positive was being able to preview the slide show that I was creating, this was good as it gave me perspective about the format I was using.

Challenges:• A challenge I faced while using PowerPoint was when trying to

change the font in some of my slides.• Another challenge was organising the layers created by

multiple text boxes on slides. • Also I found when adding effects to my slides the icon that is

next to the action that the effect will have was not clear. This meant each one had to be selected to see if it was what I wanted.

References

• All pictures sourced from:

• Berk, L. (2009). Exploring Lifespan Development. Pearson Education. Boston; MA, United States of America.

• Marsh, C. (2008). Becoming a teacher; knowledge, skills and issues. Pearson Education Australia. NSW; Australia.

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