This week’s show concerns the impact of teachers and the role they play in inspiring us all. Our guest is Crissy Lauterbach, an experienced educator and works with Contact Learning.
Teaching Teachers to Teach
Crissy works at Butler Tech, which serves all the career and technical center. There she teaches kids how to be teachers. While at Butler students learn how to discipline, teach, and evaluate students. In their senior year they actually teach every week, and see the growth of students throughout the year. Then, when they graduate and go on, they have a better picture of whether this career and path is for them. It also helps them fine tune their content area focus and age level. In doing all of this, they are working to stop teacher burnout and the indecision and switching majors that often happens in college.
How Do Career and Technical Centers Work?
Career and technical centers immerse students in a profession, allowing them to know whether it is the path for them. Every career has pitfalls and struggles, and learning how to overcome those struggles and succeed in the field can have profound effects on students and going forward professionals. We know that not everyone needs or is ready to go to college right after high school. Career and technical centers immerse students in a variety of professions and trades, that lead to careers and paths forward for EVERY student.
The Balloon Game
Grab someone out of the class or audience, and have them bounce a balloon for one minute. Then you throw more balloons into the mix, symbolizing a parent, or an administrator, or for children another student. In doing this, your participants begin to fail and draw conclusions. Add more people into the mix, and they will all still fail. For children and adults this symbolizes that you need to care first for yourself, and keep you nose out of others business, or trying to help others when your own house is not in order.
Contact Learning and Crissy’s Philosophy
We are not in teaching to keep kids busy from 8a-3p, we are educating students to make them better human beings. Whether it’s math, or english, we find ways to help every student succeed.
The best way to inspire your teachers, old and new, are in small groups. We can give them skills to find fun in lessons for both themselves and their students. Whether a teacher is brand new and trying to learn how to inspire and engage their students or a veteran teacher who is disillusioned with education and have lost the joy of teaching, we can give them the tools to reframe their think
How to get in touch with Crissy
[fa class=”fa-globe”] www.contactlearning.org
[fa class=”fa-envelope”] crissylauterbach@gmail.com
[fa class=”fa-twitter”] @jeanlauterbach
Book Recommendation
