Exit Slip - Frank McCourt

Teacher inquiry for McCourt is a lifelong process. The teaching-learning process involves a symbiotic relationship between the teacher and the students. One key to build this relationship is by knowing more about your students. McCourt did this by listening and taking into consideration his students' wants; for example discoursing about "what makes them (students) hate" a particular topic or task. In the same way, aside from being fluid in terms of classroom management, sharing his unfortunate yet valuable life story creates, in some ways, motivation in the students. The idea of symbiont relationship means that the teacher has to learn the students, their interests, aptitudes even the source of their hatreds and anguish, in order to be able to actually teach them the things they need. Moreover, understanding the source of students  resistance against a topic or task provides the teacher the ideas to consider of choosing the best strategies he or she could use in teaching. Like McCourt, teachers should have a box full of variety of fun strategies to pull out from in case one strategy does not work out.