Bobby G. Manuel Grayson, Jr.

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Bean, Bruner, McGilbray, Hawkins, Hammonds, Adams, Manuel

This web site is dedicated to family and friend.

"Can it be that it was all so simple than.....memories...and the way we were....pictures of the smiles we once knew....if we had a chance to do it again ..... remember, the way we were..."

My Teaching Philosophy

As an educator I am dedicated to providing a proactive differentiated core of instructions that is a blend of whole-class, group, and individual instructions in a variety of ways to meet the needs of a variety of learners.

As we have recently completed the first decade of the New Millennium, I envision all educators encouraging collaboration, communication, and leadership in their classrooms in order to prepare students for life in a truly autonomous society. I believe it is important to maintain a society that values equality, unity, and communication between diverse peoples. The education system is the key to a society in which all individuals exercise their political power because it allows every individual to believe that he or she has something meaningful to contribute. Educators will fully incorporate the ideas of William Edward Burghardt DuBois who focused on the process of learning and who believed the aim of education is to create socially responsible citizens with the ability to work together. Most students come to school with concerns about being accepted, being influential, and being competent. They strive to create bonds, to wield power, and to achieve their goals. Teachers will promote acceptance, influence, and competence in the classroom to teach students the values, skills, and procedures of living democratically in a global community.Democracy in education is important because it ensures students learn how to collaborate while respecting each other’s rights and opinions rather than merely ensuring that students learn the course content. My vision is one in which teachers will ensure that students engage together in cooperative learning rather than compete with one another or overlook one another as valuable resources. Students will be taught to concern themselves with the general well-being of the group because their own well-being relies on the group’s well-being. A teacher’s classroom will rely on interdependence, negotiation, and openness to others’ ideas in order to ensure academic productivity. In order to reach this level of interdependence, the teacher will first establish feelings of trust and openness within the classroom in order to create a climate that is conducive to mutual dependence as opposed to competition.Teachers have to create a classroom climate in which each student feels valued. A high level of self-worth in the classroom fosters efficacy and ambition, which steers students towards academic excellence. The teacher must establish support, trust, and comfort as early as possible in the classroom and encourage a classroom atmosphere that is informal and without high levels of stress. Student’s expressions of feelings will be welcome and supported. To ensure academic excellence, students will work together, when the situation permits, in friendly and emotionally supportive peer groups. The interaction in the classroom will be open and inviting in order for these peer groups to collaborate and produce work. The teacher will encourage communication and will facilitate classroom discussions that are candid with each student taking on the central role in the discussion at some point. No student will dominate class discussions or avoid participation in class discussions. Interactions and discussions in the classroom will not merely focus on content.In every classroom all students will exercise some degree of power over another student. Shared leadership allows the teacher and students to accomplish goals that are important to everyone. Students who are allowed to practice leadership will acquire skills to self-govern and learn responsibility. Students should feel confident in making choices and pursuing their own interests. This way they will feel comfortable in contributing to society. Teachers will not abuse their authority by disregarding students’ needs and opinions and will not dominate the choices of the students because this will cause students to become meek. In a democratic society, every individual needs a strong voice. Educators will create classrooms that are based on ideas that emphasize effective communication, a shared power structure, and the importance of social-emotional connections. They will establish an ideal environment in which to teach students to respect human diversity and human rights, to strive for equality, to be aware of inequity and injustice, to negotiate, to participate and to express opinions, and to be open to others.

As an educator I do not want my students to say, “I graduated from that school, but I never felt a part of it."

gbobbyg@att.net

IN MEMORY OF: Jimmy Edwards and William Gordon (Class of 1970, Classen HS); Von Adrian Holmes (Class of 1970, Northeast HS); Urban Gordon (Class of 1969, Classen HS), we will miss you, I have missed you my friend's.