Good teaching

Wow, what questions this week! I was contemplating the answer to the first question when I realized my answer for the second question so I will start there. I believe that the reason we all have different opinions about what constitutes good teaching is because we have all had different experiences in our lives with our own teachers. When I think back on the teachers that I had growing up, there are a few very special ones that immediately come to mind. I asked myself why these teachers were so special to me and it wasn't because of the vast amount of knowledge that I gained from them. Quite honestly, I know that I did learn some of the subject matter from them, but what I really remember is the way that they made us feel as students. These particular teachers always had a way of helping us learn when we didn't even know that we were learning. There was such an easy spiritedness to the way that they taught. They made each one of us feel smart and capable. They made me want to learn more!

So, this brings me back to the first question, what do I think constituted good teaching? I believe that we have to try to teach in a way that every child can understand the material, however, part of the battle is getting every child to want to understand the material. I believe that this comes from the relationships that we build with our students. We have to break through that "us against them" mentality that so many students come to us with. I believe that part of that comes from us respecting our students and only accepting respectable behavior from them. Sometimes,this is all so much easier said than done! I have a long way to go, but, I believe that I am headed in the right direction.