Comments for Teachers #3

The teacher I am following now is Teacher Tom. He is a pre-school teacher for ages 2-5 in Seattle Washington. His name is Tom Hobson. You can tell just by reading through his blog that this is his passion and that he loves children.

The first blog post I read was called "They Will Want To Try It Again". It was about Pendulum Painting.

This is a neat way to teach young and older students about the Laws of Physics. It looks like it is very messy but I even want to try it myself. He has lots of ideas on his page and links to click on to find out how to do his ideas.

Mr. Tom's second blog I read was titled "How to Paint a Black and Rainbow Spaceship". Once again, I really enjoyed this blog. Teacher Tom works with very young students and sometimes it is very hard to get everyone to agree. At the beginning of the school year however he states that the class had a discussion that the class gets to vote on decisions and sometimes you win some and sometimes you loose some. This worked well for the painting of the spaceship and the students came to quick decision of half black and half rainbow colored. Teacher Tom has pictures of this process throughout his blog.

Teacher Tom is a very creative and hands on teacher. He has lots of really neat ideas for students that I hope I can use in my classroom one day.

The latest blog I have read by Teacher Tom is "Let Them Teach Themselves". I love this blog! It is about allowing the students to mix different ingredients together own their own. They have shaving gel, flour, salt sand, water, vinegar and other ingredients. Teacher Tom lets them mix at their own will. No instructions, no measurements and little if no help from the teacher. Yes, I am sure this was a MESS but what it produced was a great outcome (even though it was not anything taste worthy I am sure).

Allowing the young students to do this opened up another world. The students found out on their own what mixing baking soda and vinegar created. They mixed other ingredients and discovered all kinds of things. Yet, they realized they could turn to each other for help and to discuss the different ingredients and what happened with each one. This opened up what Teacher Tom called "community". Maybe this generation of kids will realize that they can make the world a better place by communicating and working together. Instead of the "self" generation and trying to do it all alone and only for one's self. Could you even begin to imagine how things in this world would change if everyone came together and worked as a community. I know that is far fetched but we can all hope.

With Teachers like Teacher Tom, their is hope that children's lives can be impacted for a positive change and they (the future) can make this world a better place. Teacher Tom is so inspiring to step outside of the "Box" and teach with a style that is a "hands on" learning approach. I can't even begin to imagine how their little minds are turning as they solve problems, work together and create. This is the type of teaching that needs to be in place in every classroom, hands on and where the students are using their skills, creativity and most importantly their brains to learn.

I have really enjoyed reading Teacher Tom's blog. He is so many great ideas on his page. Yes, most of them are centered around young children but with a little imagination and creativity I believe these ideas could be applied at any age level.. I have included a link to his blog on my page. Please take the time to check it out, it is full of great ideas! I hope one day to be a creative teacher like Mr. Tom and have lots of clorox wipes on my classroom to clean up the mess later.