She worked as a teacher in a public primary school for many years, and later founded the Western Preparatory School.
The media called her a miracle worker, and her deeds were made into a biographical film The Story of Marvin Collins. Two consecutive American presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush both asked her to be the Minister of Education, but both were rejected. She said: I like teaching too much. I belong to the classroom.
She said: I am not a miracle worker. I just love my children very much and work harder than many people.
What an excellent teacher needs most is the ability of educational reflection. Marvin Collins is not a normal student majoring in education, but when she teaches her children, she will think about her life experience, what kind of teacher she liked when she was a student, how the teacher treated her, who, what and what had the greatest influence on her, and even how her father taught her. These thoughts are her wealth.
She firmly believes that children can learn if they want to. As long as children are given the right environment, the right motivation and the right learning materials, they can show their inherent advantages and stand out.
What they need is to have such a special person, trust them and inspire their best.
She said that an excellent teacher should respect students, and teachers can only stimulate students' self-esteem with self-esteem. Take teachers' clothing as an example. She thinks that teachers' casual clothes are not only disrespectful to themselves, but also disrespectful to children and this profession. Her dress is always impeccable, well-tailored, fashionable and simple. She often wears some beautiful decorations. In her opinion, as a teacher, it is very important to leave a unique impression on students.
She attaches great importance to the function of reading. She thinks that the most important thing in education is to let children read. Illiterate children can't do anything.
Teachers can shape a child or destroy a child; Can support a child, can also denigrate a child, can stimulate children's potential, ignite interest, make them thirst for knowledge, can also make them hate school, and even hate themselves. The most important watershed is whether there is love for students. Any teacher who applies to work in her school is most concerned about whether you love children?
Marvin Collins put forward ten basic principles of being a good teacher.
These ten principles are the concrete development of students' love.
During her work in Delano public school, her class became a "waste station" of the school. Students who are rejected by other teachers. There will always be some children like Freddie, students with disciplinary problems.
She once publicly declared: Don't tell me anything about the students, don't tell me what they are studying, so that I can walk into that classroom and establish emotional ties with them.
The following are some conversations between her and her students.
A conversation with Freddie. Page 33. .
I promise you will start studying hard, you will gain something, and I won't fail you.
James didn't make any trouble for the rest of the day.
The first day of school: "Each of you is the most important child in the world. I promise you will learn. None of you are losers. School may let you down, so say goodbye to failure, son, and welcome success. You should write every day, so practice makes perfect. You should recite a poem every week and your brain memory will be trained. But you must help me. Help you. No pains, no gains. Success is not at your fingertips, you must take the initiative to fight for it. " The children look confused. They are used to hearing warnings, threats and rules on the first day of school. -Marvin walked in rows, fiddling with their hair, poking their cheeks and holding their shoulders.
The second day of school: Ma Wenjiao tells their folk story: Little Red Hen and Wheat. The truth contained in this story: the working people will have plenty of food and clothing and live in luxury houses. Lazy people always do nothing but reach for it. And you can choose, you have the right to choose who you want to be.
Marvin didn't get along well with his first teacher when he was a child. In the first week of school, when they study Arabic numerals. Marvin always writes the number 2 backwards. Every time she makes a mistake, the teacher will beat her finger with a ruler. Marvin never understood why the teacher kept hitting me. If I had known what was right, I would have done it. Her behavior seems to say: I made a mistake on purpose. I have never forgotten that experience, which has a great influence on my teaching methods. For me, the child's mistake shows that she needs help and can't be accused and laughed at for doing something wrong.
Children need to know that it's okay to make mistakes, because mistakes are part of learning.
We often forget the importance of praise, how sensitive children are and how fragile self-esteem is. For every child, I will appreciate and praise the efforts made.
I never let any child fail the exam, or draw a red cross on the test paper. I write "very well" or "well done" on each piece of paper, or draw a smiling face. Then I will explain the wrong questions to each child one by one.
Although I know nothing about educational theory, I often feel that ignorance is actually a good thing. I have no preconceived ideas and am not bound by rules. I will teach students in accordance with their aptitude, talk to them, listen to them and find out their needs. I didn't try to figure out which learning mode or education mode they are suitable for. I just follow my heart, as long as it feels right. I accept new methods easily. I keep learning with my students and constantly look for new ways to make the class lively and interesting.
What really taught me how to be a teacher was a headmaster. He is very strict with the new teacher. He would sit in the classroom every day for two months, shaking his head or nodding to take notes. After class is over, he will let me sit down and give me lessons as if I were his child. He trained me to observe the students' facial expressions and judge whether they understood by their eyes. I learned that a good teacher should not only know the courses he teaches, but also know the students.
Marvin's criteria for choosing a spouse.
What attracted me first was his dedication to his family.
He is even more objective and calm than I am, kind-hearted, gentle and elegant. Neighbor's children like to hang around him. On our first date, several children went to the amusement park with us. At that time, I knew that a man who can show great patience to other people's children will be a good husband and father. We have been married for less than a year.
I draw nutrition from my childhood memories, which makes me feel happy, sad and excited. Hurt. Or the past of fear. The past that made me sad and happy. Try your best to perceive students' emotions. I found that hugging and touching them in the classroom and saying I love you immediately made them feel safe and comfortable. Establish a bond of love between teachers and students and between children.
Children are good at imitating and following the trend. If the teacher laughs at or deliberately blames one child, then other children. May bully the child, and vice versa.
If children are interested in what they read, they will be more eager to read. How can a child read a sentence hard and see the pepper run away? So I stopped using these required reading materials. I found some books from the library and bookstore. I let the children read Aesop's fables. Fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales. And lev tolstoy's fables and fairy tales. I chose those stories. Because what they teach people is values, morality and life experience. Fairy tales and fables can help children establish correct concepts. Greed, hardship, happiness. Mean. And Joey. After reading these stories, you always have something to think and discuss. I hope my students are eager to read, and I hope they understand that reading can not only train us to remember words. This is a way for us to understand other people's thoughts. I also ask students to explain stories by drawing pictures. Sometimes we will perform fables. Or make up your own ending. I even wrote a fable myself. I started, and then each child added 1 sentence. In the process of trying new ideas and different methods and contents, I found a method. And that's what I like.
A colleague and I discussed ways to make children like reading. Let the children participate in the story, and don't let them passively stare at the words on every page. She told me. Put them in the position of a character in the story and ask them. What are your thoughts and feelings? He also suggested that I could ask the children to write letters to the characters in the story. To this day, I think those are the most useful ways to fascinate children with stories.