ACTIVE LEARNING
"It's important to me that they start thinking for themselves, (…) where you give them a few nudges and they then come up with the solution as independently as possible. If things go really well, they won't even notice that someone has helped them. That's what's really important to me. I try to incorporate the scientific process as much as possible. I teach two Science subjects, so of course there are also theory units where you do things theoretically. But wherever possible, I try to focus on experiments."
THE 80% RULE
"I completed my studies and student teaching with flying colors and declared that I am a good teacher. Then I went from student teaching to the everyday school reality and had to teach significantly more hours. I then realized that I couldn't maintain the level I had during student teaching (...) because the workload was simply too great (...) It was simply not possible to teach the full number of hours at that level of perfection (...) and I actually became very dissatisfied. My first reaction was to reduce my teaching hours in order to get the quality of teaching back to where I wanted it, because that was important to me. Then, after two or three years, I said that I really couldn't continue to go without the additional money while still working just as much as before. I then found a new way for myself where I was actually able to say that I'm satisfied with 80%. I know I can do better (…) but I'm satisfied with what I'm doing, given the amount of time I have to give."
"What I do now, so that I still have that feeling of, 'Oh man, I can still do this,' is to pick out a few lessons—sometimes this class, sometimes that class—that I prepare especially well. I tell myself, 'Okay, now I'm going to prepare a really nice lesson, which I'm going to plan meticulously from start to finish, like you might do in student teaching, to get that gratification.' (…) It's a combination that works for me, so that on one hand I know the quality is there, but on the other hand I also don't burn out over time—because that’s the other possibility, that you're constantly pushing yourself beyond your limits and then eventually you have no energy left at all. I've found a pretty good compromise for myself there."