Letter: Teacher's value beyond lesson plan
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As a retired high school teacher, I read with piercing interest the article "Sharing lesson plans online" [News, Jan. 3]. With all the brouhaha these days about the nation's educational morass, what good could shared lesson planning accomplish in motivating students in a classroom?
Learning is all about the teacher and his or her ability to disseminate knowledge of the subject matter, whether it be literature, language, science or mathematics.
First and foremost, the teacher must have the motivational skills to captivate the class into the skeletal bones of the subject matter. Then, he or she must be able to flesh out the body of the course in the days and weeks of the school year. It is a relationship that begins with a rapport and ends with not only a better grasp of the subject, but a successful ending of the course.
Someone else's successful lesson planning does not necessarily ensure another's success. It is all about personal pedagogical skills.
John Scibelli, Rosedale
Editor's note: The writer taught English for 41 years in public schools, including South Side, Lawrence and Lynbrook high schools.
