The Importance Of An Effective Teacher

As a student of education, I have been able to gather many ideas and opinions about practices and ideals I want to implement in my future classroom. My philosophies about education are still being formed and continually change with every class I visit and with every educator I encounter. My ideas, admittedly, come from random experiences and intangible texts, but as I gain more experience in the field through my courses, my philosophies about teaching will become more clearly defined. These few ideas I have now will undoubtedly be added upon as I enter student teaching and my professional career, nevertheless, they are concepts of which I hope to never lose sight.

By tailoring lessons designed to fit each student I am able to better help them understand what they are learning. For instance, having a child very interested in kinesthetic or auditory styles of learning I can easily integrate academics while also stimulating a passion for lifelong learning.

As an educator, it is my job to find new ways for my students to learn that coincides with their particular learning style and takes advantage of their strengths. In all practical terms, this will mean finding new ways for each of my students to learn in their own particular way. As a whole, my students will need more reason to learn with authentic experiences, hands-on

A child’s brain has a trait knows as plasticity which means they have the ability to rapidly adapt as they acquire large amounts of new information which means they can retain new information more quickly unlike adults.

When I began teaching I can honestly say I thought teaching was all about the teacher delivering content to the students. I quickly learned, through some amazing peers, that if i was going home tired and the students were not, then I did not do my job that day. My job, I learned, was to give students the tools to succeed no matter who or what gave them a challenge. I agree with Chris Lehmann as he spoke about building a relationship with the students before any inquiry could happen. Mr. Lenhmann remarked that it has to go beyond teachers caring about kids, and they had to care for kids. I believe that when your students know you truly care about them personally and are invested in their life, then it frees them up to be able to learn to their fullest potential. Another remark from Mr. Lenhamm that resonated with me was his mention of technology

Nothing affects student achievement more than an effective classroom teacher. So, school administrators must be diligent in their search for qualified teachers, and more importantly, utilize a selection interview process that identifies the most qualified candidate or whether or not the candidate truly wants the job. When hiring teachers, the goal is to find the most effective and highly qualified candidates and to do this certain qualities and traits must be prevalent. As M. Mark Wasicsko stated, “Most teachers who do not succeed fail because they do not have the right dispositions” (2004). According to Dictionary.com, “disposition is the predominant or prevailing tendency of one 's spirits; natural mental and emotional outlook or mood; characteristic attitude” (2016). With this focus, certain characteristics about Ms. Morrison’s disposition can be identified in this case study.

As an aspiring educator my motivation for entering the classroom and the ideas that shaped my role in the school environment centered around culturally relevant teaching. I was always aware of how vital it is to student achievement to be responsive to them as people and their experiences both inside and outside of school. However, my view on what it meant to be culturally relevant was limited. I knew that it was important to foster a caring environment, to be aware of sociopolitical factors affecting the lives of students and their families, and to do everything in my power to relate classroom discussions and curriculum materials back to issues that affected the lives of myself and my students. Before enrolling in ED 7438, I figured that this was the general scope of what it meant to be a culturally relevant teacher. However, through our examination of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Differentiated Instruction (DI), and culturally relevant critical teacher care, I began to make connections between all three concepts as integral components of a culturally relevant classroom. While UDL and DI were not originally a part of the equation for me, ED 7438 has pushed me to recognize that you cannot have an environment centered around care without UDL and DI informing your teaching practices. I now understand that by incorporating UDL and DI into my concept of culturally relevant teaching I will be meeting the needs of all students on both an academic and social-emotional

The classroom I am doing my demonstration teaching in is a second-grade classroom. The teacher teaches the English Language Arts and Math review for two classes of 25 students in each class. The students are seven and eight years old male and females of Caucasian or Hispanic backgrounds. There is 90 minutes of teaching 4 days a week and 60 minutes of teaching day a week. The students are in a Spanish Immersion Program and learn Math in Spanish with the Spanish teacher.

In Panerai et al. (2009) study researchers compared three educational approaches to treating ASD over the course of three years – TEACCH implement in a residential program (R-TEACCH), TEACCH implemented in a natural setting (NS-TEACCH), and a nonspecific approach in mainstream schools with inclusive education. While previous research has shown TEACCH to be an effective treatment, Panerai et al. aimed to also evaluate the effectiveness of TEACCH in various settings. They hypothesized that treatment through TEACCH will prove more effective, regardless of the setting, than an inclusive program not specifically designed for children with ASD. Participants were 34 males with ASD and severe mental retardation (sMR). These participants all came

The purpose of teacher evaluations is to ensure teacher quality and to promote learning. The Framework for Teaching, by Charlotte Danielson, has effectively identified 4 domains reflecting the responsibilities of teachers. The domains of teacher responsibility outlined in this evaluation tool are: Planning and Preparation, The Classroom Environment, Instruction, and Professional Responsibilities. Within each of the 4 domains, there are descriptive elements exemplifying the characteristics of the domain.

In order to be a successful teacher it is important that one gets knowledge from an individual that is already teaching. For me, I chose to interview Ashley Branigan. Ashley teaches at Greenwood elementary school in River Falls Wisconsin. She is a third grade elementary school teacher in general studies. I did not know Ashley until I emailed her on the Greenwood school district website. From there, I found the grade level she teaches and we set up a day for me to interview her. I met her on Monday October fifth at 4:20pm in her classroom to discuss the questions with her and to learn more about what it is like to be an elementary school teacher.

During my classroom experience I learned a variety of things that I found would help me become a successful teacher in the future. Things like management, teaching strategies, and how information was presented helped determine some characteristics that I found to make Mr. Nelson an effective teacher. As part of being a physical education major there are certain qualities that you have to have to make children really understand the importance of the subject and why it is necessary in all schools. Mr. Nelson did a fantastic job at showing students information and the importance of it. I hope to translate this into my own teaching activates.

Effective teaching is when a teacher is able to teach to the best interest of his students. Effective teachers should have an outstanding knowledge of the contents they are teaching, they should be able to explain the contents in extensive details and be able to teach it using different strategies to enhance student’s interest and learning. Effective teachers should trust their students and understand how each student thinks and how they all have a different perspective of the world. Effective teachers should have a positive assumption for student success. They should believe that all students are capable to assess higher forms of thinking and learning if they are given appropriate, differentiated instruction and guidance. Teachers should create an environment that supports individual and collaborative learning; enhance positive social interactions and self- motivation.

Teachers have one of the most important jobs in society. They are responsible for educating the future leaders of the country. So, it is common sense to have only the most effective teachers educate them. Unfortunately, that is not the case today. The bad teachers and the successful teachers are treated as equals under tenure. Tenure is given to a teacher after a certain number of years and ultimately protects them from being fired. “The very first state to adopt tenure was New Jersey in 1909 and by the mid 1900s 80 percent of k-12 teachers had tenure already. At the time tenure began as a way to protect teachers from wrongful termination due to pregnancy, political view, race or religion, and so on.” (“Making The Grade”). Essentially tenure is a continual job contract for teachers who qualify after about three to five years. Tenure covers a wide variety of topics, most of whom can be dealt with without the implication of a complete job secure system. In today’s society, tenure has lost its value and has morphed into something that is hurting students. Tenure puts teachers before students. That’s shocking when the sole purpose of a teacher is to educate students. Supporters of teacher tenure argue that teachers need to be protected from criticism in order to educate students. That is not what tenure is allowing teachers to accomplish. There are more downfalls than positives for students as tenure exists today, so it should be abolished from school systems nationwide.

In this analysis, my objective is to reflect on effective teaching and learning strategies and methods, using my personal experience in the classroom, as well as wider reading/research and university lectures, including my contextual analysis on my placement school (see appendix one).