All children can learn
As a teacher, one must believe and work from the perspective that “all children can and will learn” (to borrow the 1990's educational reform mantra); and to learn best, students should take an active role in their education. |
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -Benjamin Franklin |
"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn." -Ignacio Estrada |
Personalized learning paths
An effective teacher should utilize a variety of teaching methods, techniques, tools, and strategies to meet the various learning needs and learning styles of his students. |
Love for learning
A transformational teacher must be a motivator, and ought to be motivated to continue learning herself. |
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -WB Yeats. "Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." -Anthony J. D' Angelo |
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't know it well enough." Albert Einstein "A good teacher must be able to put himself in the place of those who find learning hard." Eliphas Levi |
Flexible thinking
An excellent teacher should strive to be a clear communicator, yet think outside the box. He should become an abstract thinker in his subject, so that he may be fully able to instruct others. |
Enthusiasm for creativity
Great teachers foster a passion and love for learning, and inspire the development of creativity and imagination! Such a teacher promotes in her students the insatiable desire to apprehend the unknown and to imagine and create the possibilities. |
"Creativity is as important as literacy." Ken Robinson. "Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new." -Og Mandino. "Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination." -John Dewey |
"What a child can do today with assistance, she will be able to do by herself tomorrow." |
Dependable support
An exceptional teacher will get under students and "push up," so to speak, challenging them to go higher, all the while assisting them in the process. Thus, I believe a teacher should teach to the Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky's theory) and I have observed time and again, that a student can achieve much more with modeling and assistance (called scaffolding), than she could alone. I love to see students achieve more than they ever believed possible, and then repeat it on their own! |
Respect for children
A wise teacher must work to establish a culture of honor in the learning environment. This is done by first showing and giving the student respect in order to require respect in return. It truly helps if a teacher communicates great value and significance for a student, believing the best of him, even in the face of his mistakes. |
“Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.”– Lady Bird Johnson |
"Freedom is greatest when the ground rules are clear." -Anonymous. |
Clear Boundaries
Clear "Ground Rules" for a classroom have to be established, which include Respect for oneself, Respect for one another and the Teacher, and Respect for the environment. More specific ground rules fit under one of these three categories. Likewise, clear and logical consequences, which fit within the school's discipline parameters, should follow the breaking of the ground rules. Such consequences must be made known to students at the outset. I like to involve the students in this process as much as possible, taking their ideas, while leading them to a clear and definitive result. We might develop a class pledge or statement which will then be published and posted within the classroom, and which can be read together, and recalled when needed. |
Commitment to Coaching
Regarding academic outcomes, students should be expected to work and complete work to the best of their ability, and continually encouraged to rise to this expectation. Students will be allowed to correct or redo work which falls short of their ability, when appropriate. If a student continues to perform significantly below her best, a teacher-student conference would take place, followed by communication with the student's parent/s when needed. A teacher should work to develop a relationship with such a student to determine a course of action, while continuing to encourage the student toward success. |
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." -Thomas A. Edison. |
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." -Colin Powell. "Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." -Henry Ford. |
Imperfection is perfection
A teacher must not be afraid of failures and mistakes! Everyone makes them, and the best teachers have made them time and time again, for if nothing new is tried, nothing will be gained. |
Remain childlike
Have fun with your students! What a teacher enjoys, her students will also, whether it be a subject, a mistake, a funny situation, or a good joke. A teacher must be able to laugh at herself, if she wants to survive and thrive! |
"You grow up the first day you have your first real laugh at yourself." -Ethel Barrymore. "To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at yourself is |