Highly Effective Teaching Classroom
I heard a teacher friend say this week that every student deserves a smart teacher and I thought how true! I reflected on the classrooms I visited and the teachers I trained, and our need for continuous training. Our goal should be to be the best teacher we can be every day of our lives. Our students depend on us to prepare them to be the leaders of tomorrow. Here is my suggestion for the day: find another teacher who is passionate about teaching and learn from him or her. Read blogs, attend workshops, take classes so you can experience the thrill of learning something new. It also helps you experience the stress that comes with the learning process. It allows you to relate to your students and the stress they feel throughout each day
Also, surround yourself with people who are as smart or smarter than you in one of your many intelligences. You can learn something new each day and be a lifelong learner. (I wrote the first post sitting in my car using my iPhone……I wasn’t driving! I apologize for so many typos!)
I agree with the quote that “every student deserves a smart teacher”. I know that as a parent myself I want all 3 of my children to have smart teachers. I try to take as many different classses as I have time for to help me be a smarter teacher and also I definitely surround myself with people smarter than me!!
This is one of the reasons I wanted to take this class. Technology is my weak area and it doesn’t help that my brain just isn’t wired to think that way. I am so far out of my comfort zone and I am definitely experiencing the stress that some of my students may feel throughout their day. I can do the research and the reading and the posting, it’s the completing the actual projects whare I am completely at a loss once we leave class. Thank goodness for Maryanne sitting next to me, but I feel sorry for her. Thank you for being so patient, Maryanne!
I totally agree with surrounding myself with people who are smarter than me! I love to learn from others and apply it in my lessons. I also learn so much from my students! I find that the students get smarter every year and I must stay informed and take classes to stay smarter than they are! I sometimes find it a challenge to do this especially having a family with small children but I just take it one step at a time.
Smarter people are enthusiastic and contagious. I have seen way too many teachers in my 7 years as an educator that are not passionate and truly do not care, especially as my own children were coming through the public school system. That is perhaps one one of the main reasons that I came to education as a second career. Not only should this apply to every teacher, but it has been the main objective in the corporate America for many years! I am all for holding educators accountable and merit should be awarded accordingly. We are not helping our children to become leaders tomorrow by not being a good role model ourselves. I love to learn and will always keep the “door open” for the rest of my days. It has made my life much more rewarding and interesting!
I often think about this topic. I believe children deserve the best. As adults, we all have different intelligences…therefore we could all find a career in which we will succeed. I believe that some people do not discover their smarts or passion and then just DECIDE to teach. I have seen many teachers who are just in it for the job. They do not have the passion or smarts for the job, and it breaks my heart for the students. I don’t believe all classrooms should be the same, that all educators should be similar, or that we should be cookie cutter. I DO believe that we should fuel the passion and strive to learn new things each day that will strengthen our classrooms.
Every Child does deserve a “Smart Teacher.” I hope that my child is blessed with smart teachers throughout her journey. I hope as a parentI can be her first smart teacher and that growing with her, beside her, I am able to teach herand learn from her too.
Likewise, I too want to be a smart teacher for my students! I am constantly wanting to become a better teacher, a smarter teacher.I find when I take classes, especially in the winter when my energy is running down a bit or in the summer, while gearing up for a new year, it helps me to keep my passion for teaching alive!
As a parent, I want my daughter to always have these “Smart Teachers!” It does set a good example that we are always learning and growing, ourselves! My kids love that I am taking this class, and I show them little tidbits of things I learn each week, and they are so excited about it for me!! It is some of the more genuine teachable moments that occur when we truly share a love for learning! And Sara, AMEN on the whole “we should be unique and different and not cookie-cutter!!!!!”
So many times I don’t feel like a smart teacher because I get bored with what I’m doing or teaching. So….I look to someone in my building, on my grade level or not, to see what they might do. Picking somebody else’s brain does 2 things; it gives the other person an uplift in spirits because you thought enough of them to ask them, and two, it refreshes you tired plans. Win/Win!
Totally agree with “Smart Teachers” . . . nothing is more disappointing to a student than realizing that their mentor is faking it. That doesn’t mean the teacher has to know EVERYTHING – just that he/she kwnos the subject matter and how to point kids in the right direction for answers. Students do deserve to have knowledgeable, aware individuals teaching them.
I agree with how important it is to surround yourself with experienced Knownledgable teachers. We are all weak in some areas whether it is technology or not. I know when I learn a new way of teaching something by watching or discussing it I feel like WOW this is great,I’m so happy to have new ideas in my teacher bag. We can all learn so much from each other.
I am always looking for new ideas or ways to do things in my classroom. I like to see what other teachers are doing to find things I can use. I hope I never get to the point where I cannot learn from others.
I have always felt that I do my best when I have someone to bounce ideas off of. It shouldn’t be this is my idea and your idea, it needs to be “our” ideas. I long to work with people, one day, that will take and not give back.
We have a saying at our school that we are “free to steal” ideas. Growth always comes from looking around at the wonderful ideas around you, recognizing their potential, and finding a way to enhance your own work. I would be lost if I couldn’t “steal” from the many talented people that work with me every day…including my children!
I’m trying this out to see if it works!
The first blog reminded me of an admonition one of my friends gave to her son: “Make certain that you work harder than anyone else today!” Wow! That could apply to teachers, too. Every day, we have the opportunity to be the best teacher we can be…instead of sometimes slipping into complacency or falling into the false camaraderie of listening to other colleagues’ gripes.