User:CsCaptor

~About Me~

They call me S-M-I-Double T-to the Y. My name is Casey Smith, but most of my friends call me Smitty. Originally hailing from Connecticut, the things I love best are good movies, horror in particular; so pretty much anything directed by Wes Craven, Clive Barker, or John Carpenter is right up my ally. But, if I’m not screening a film, I love to play my 1950 Fender Strat Reissue, root for the Padres even though they are having a “building year.” I am your typical eclectic, esoteric, English major; books, novels, and plays are strewn across my bedroom constantly. All and all I believe I’m very congenial, contagious, and a little insane! (Sorry couldn’t take anymore alliteration).

What Makes a Good Teacher

Ever since I worked at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut I knew I wanted to be a teacher. When I was working there I worked at a sailing camp for children aged between 10 and 15. The group I was assigned to was a group of 13 and 14 year olds who were in short considered to be problematic. At first I had no idea how to deal with these kids they were out of control, but as the week progressed I really felt like I reached them and soon they listened to everything I said.

My philosophy on teaching is pretty much the same philosophy on any kind of social interaction. If you treat children in a respectful mannor, and talk to them in a way that is generally conducive to them you can really reach the kids who could be labled as problematic. But probably more important, the human ability of cognicent thought is a vast undiscovered tundra. In my view anyone has the ability to learn anything, and learning never stops. In my life not a day has gone by where I haven't learned something. In my expierience you can teach a person anything of any subject matter and of any difficulty if you can reach them as a person and compare it to something that they can relate too. The best teachers that I have had were able to do that for me and I hope to "pay it forward" and be able to do the same for my students.