Office of Accreditation & Teacher Quality

2007 Teacher of the Year - Charlotte Mohling

“Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. But, involve me and I will understand.” Learning is the process all people use to acquire knowledge and apply that knowledge to a variety of situations. My role, as a teacher, is to serve as the facilitator of that learning. I want to instill in my students the desire to explore, to create, and to learn. I want to actively involve them in their education and get them excited about learning.

I believe that people work to the expectations that are set for them. Therefore, we need to set high expectations for students, similar to expectations they will encounter in their future career. If expectations are not met on the first attempt, students need the opportunity for revision. Education is a learning experience and students may not learn on their first attempt, so they need to understand that revision and re-learning may be necessary.          

I believe that to involve students in learning I need to know them personally. It is important to treat and respect each student as an individual and to believe that each individual has the desire to learn something. My goal, as a teacher, is to push students out of their comfort zone – to explore, question and find that “something.”

Learning needs to be a positive experience for students. As a teacher, I need to provide a welcome, positive atmosphere for learning to occur; and, I must serve as a positive role model for my students. Personally, I possess a positive attitude and share a welcoming smile each day with every student who walks into my classroom. I share concern for their educational achievement, involvement in extracurricular activities, and their personal life outside the classroom. I am open to the ideas of my students. I encourage them to question me, so both of us may learn. I reinforce their curiosity, so they will continue to prove, ask questions, and seek new knowledge.

I believe that we must prepare all students for the future. We must challenge them to think, explore, and apply learning. Through relevant, interactive, engaging instruction, we can prepare students for this future.