A good teacher just like a good cook. Of course, you can tell a good cook by the taste of his dishes. So students’ perfect performance is a good predictor of competent teacher. But it takes a lot effort to make the dishes OR evaluate the students. In fact, we can also tell a good cook by his preparation and operation of his cooking. Good cook can aways make many dishes in a limited time. Because he don’t stop, when heating the water, he is washing the vegatables or cutting the meat. When the water is ready he is also ready to fry them together. The teacher do the same thing in class expecially in a short class. I found this metaphor visiting Dr C’s class, she give instructions as well as preparing the tools for modeling, at the same time she was also doing demonstration of what the secret tube behaviors.
Sometimes science teacher educators complain that teachers’ beliefs are stubborn and reluctant to change their practices. Well, It is true.
The science teacher is like a swimming player in a swimming poor. The science teacher educator stand beside and tell the player how to swim, which style is good which is bad. But the most important thing for a person in the swimming poor is to keep safty and the most reliable style is his primary style. How can we blame them not trying to change, if their safty is not guaranteed and skills not developed.
As a science teacher educator, you can not stand by but jump into the swimming poor and provide necessary skills and safety.
