Effective Teachers

Some of my favorite things that research tells us about caring and effective teachers are:

o   Teachers share their own lives and ideas with their students.

o   Create relationships with their students to enhance student learning. I found this out in field. Once I established a relationship with the students and they were able to trust me, their learning was enhanced. They felt comfortable sharing their ideas and questions.

o   Teachers who create a warm and supportive classroom environment tend to be more effective with all students. This kind of goes with the last one, but if students don’t feel welcomed or comfortable in the classroom their learning won’t be as effective. I think it’s sooo important that I show each of my future students that they are needed and an asset to our classroom. Students need to feel love and acceptance.

o   The teachers’ enthusiasm for learning. If the teacher isn’t enthusiastic or doesn’t show that a certain subject or learning in general can be fun, how are the students going to feel that.

o   A variety of support systems. In field one of the other teachers on the team went to a conference. When she came back she shared what she had learned. They said they had done research and the number one thing they found that helped students learning was the team working together collaboratively. The teachers on the team consider the whole first grade their class. If one class understands a topic and doing well on the test. The other teachers take what they did and see if it works for their class. I loved how well they all worked together and shared. There are so many resources and support systems out their for teachers, it would be crazy not to take advantage of them.

o   Effective teachers set high expectations. I love this. If there is a good relationship set up between the student and teacher, the student is going to want to meet whatever expectation is set. I like what the guest speaker said last time. If he treats his students like adults they’ll act like adults. If we set those expectations up they’ll meet them.

Carol states “People learn better when they feel valued and supported. To value and support learners, we must know them.” I love that and believe it with all my heart. I also think teachers must teach flexibly. I think my cooperating teacher was a great example of this. She was very organized and prepared, but if something came up it wasn’t a big deal if things needed to be changed or switched around. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Students aren’t going to be the same every day. They’re going to have good days and bad days.

Then Why Is It So Hard?

            There are so many things that make teaching hard and discouraging. Some of my favorite advice my cooperating teacher gave me was, There are so many things out there that you could be doing. Don’t beat yourself up or feel guilty for not doing them all. Do what you can and do you’re best and you’ll be fine. I loved that because there really are so many things and ideas out there for teachers. We can’t do everything, but I think if we truly love our students and have their best interest in mind we will be fine and be great teachers! I know there will be challenging times, but I’m excited to put my whole heart into teaching and trying to make a difference in the lives of the kids I teach.

Tiering

In field I was able to practice using a tiered approach in my math lesson. I was teaching a lesson on measurement. The students used ten cubes as there unit of measurement. For this lesson students were practicing how to measure using  ten sticks. I divided the class into two different tiers the first tier of students were measuring objects less than ten cubes long. I had the second tier measuring objects that were longer than ten cubes. They had to figure out how to measure using only one ten stick. Once I asked them if they knew how to count by ten’s they were able to figure it out. It was fun to see both groups be challenged, but yet be successful. The book states “A great classroom conveys to all students, this is hard, but you can do hard things, and I am not willing to let you settle for less.” I hope I can convey that message to all my students. I want them to know they can accomplish hard things and be successful.   

Engaging Students

I think it’s so important to engage students no matter what you are teaching. If students aren’t engaged they’re not going to willingly participate in the lesson.  It will also mean a lot more to students if they’re interested and engaged in the activity. As the teacher I want to make every day exciting. If the teacher isn’t engaging or having fun with the lesson neither will the students. Even on bad days I hope I can fake it until I make it. One idea the book gave to help engage students was focus student products around significant problems and issues. Like the example with the construction site students will more likely be involved if it’s a real issue in their lives. I think it also help to be able to see it hands on. The students were able to observe and watch the construction site every day. I like the idea to use meaningful audiences, especially different audiences in the school. It’s important to help students discover how ideas and skills are useful in the world. I know I don’t learn much from reading a text book. It goes in one ear and out the other. The example of the Holocaust reminded me of a video I watched in college about it. It was only about a 5 minute slide show of different pictures and a few captions. I learned more in those five minutes about the Holocaust than I ever did in school reading about it in a text book. It also stuck with me and I can still remember it. It had a lot more meaning to me than reading about it from a text book. Students need to be able to make connections in a meaningful way. I also liked the idea of looking for fresh ways to present and explore ideas. How boring is it to do the same thing over and over. That’s not exciting or engaging at all.

All Children Can Learn!

The book states, “All children can learn” does not mean “all children are the same.”  I really believe that all children can learn. They just don’t all learn in the same way. It’s my job as a teacher to find out what those different ways are in my classroom and then teach to each individual student. I need to make sure that each student is well served in the classroom. It’s so important to help each student realize their value not only in the classroom, but in life. If student can learn the value of learning it will help them far more than just learning the information they need for that school year. I love that it said students need to dream. I want all the student in my classroom to be able to dream and know they can accomplish anything they put their mind to. I want to be able to have my students in mind with everything I do in my classroom. It should be about them and how to help them learn and grow. I love the part tha tis said the teacher is their to be your partner, coach, mentor and taskmaster all along your learning journey in this class. I love the idea that I will be there to be their partner and coach, to help them learn and grow. I’m not there to make them complete assignments. It’s a journey and I am there to help the students in the journey of learning. How fun!!