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And that is what makes a good teacher, able to change the subject to the most basic level for all students to obtain information. As for having a lower level student in a class, we all have to deal with that...
This sounds like my school. This weekend, one of our students was murdered in a drive-by shooting. I taught at least four of his cousins, one of whom was a valedictorian. From all accounts, he was a nice boy, a talented athlete, and a respectful student. What I expect to happen next is some sort of retaliatory action, unless the police can identify the suspects and take them into custody, where they may be safer than remaining at large.
School starts in two weeks. It will take me some time to get to know all of my new students. The big issues include who has children or is pregnant, who is taking care of other family members, who has to work a full-time job after school to support the family, who has a chronic or life-threatening illness, who is or has family members in the justice system, who can't read or has learning disabilities, and who is in a gang. I'm sure I have forgotten some key issues.
My students tell me that I am an excellent teacher, but I have trouble believing them. I suppose if you rate my by how much I care and how well I plan and deliver my instruction, then I might agree. But if you look at my failure rate and the levels of proficiency that most students attain in my subject, I would have to disagree.
In a school like mine, and like the one in the story, success is often defined more as survival than as proficiency. When I first came to my school, 19 years ago, I asked students what their goals were. Many said, "To live another day." A generation later, that is still the goal for many. As we all saw this weekend, it is often out of reach for our kids. Our summer vacation began with a freshman celebrating his 16th birthday in a fatal game of Russian roulette, and it may end with the retaliation for the murder of another 16-year-old. Where are the extraordinary teachers who can overcome that?
A good teacher is extremely difficult to measure. In my view, though, being a good teacher means being adaptable to the specific teaching situation. A good teacher in higher ed has to adapt in order to be successful to teach at the k-12 level. And a good k-12 teacher in a suburban private school would have to adapt in order to be successful with at-risk students. And nobody's going to be successful if the entire school system itself isn't working toward the success of the student. A good teacher takes his student to the next level, one level higher than where the student is now. That's it and nothing more. A good teacher isn't a magician.
Teaching, nursing, social workers and child care are all examples of service jobs and are highly affected by human nature. You cannot do these jobs from a robotic standpoint like you can the others if you really hate them.
It's entirely possible to hate the job and not hate the students/clients/patients. Nor are the only two options "love it" or "hate it". Most people are somewhere on a continuum between the two, or even at several points on that continuum, in the course of a work week.
It's entirely possible to hate the job and not hate the students/clients/patients. Nor are the only two options "love it" or "hate it". Most people are somewhere on a continuum between the two, or even at several points on that continuum, in the course of a work week.
Honestly, most people do not choose a career they love. They choose one they can tolerate doing for many years with the understanding that sometimes, they'll like what they do and sometimes they won't.
There are days when I hate teaching and there are days when I love teaching. Most days, it's just my job and I do it to the best of my ability no matter how I'm feeling about it that particular day. If my life experience is anywhere near tipical, if you think you can only do a job you love well (generic you here) then you're going to spend most of your time doing your job poorly because most days it's just making a living. Fortunately, those good days can make it all worthwhile.
I loved teaching. I hated the paperwork. I loved the students. I tolerated the administrators, co-workers, and meetings. In the end, I liked my job, but left for more money. And I was at the top of the pay scale, with ESY, and selling my prep. Probably hourly I made more money teaching, when you look at vacation time, but bottom line, my take home pay is more now.
The best teacher I have ever had in my life was my ninth grade biology teacher Mr. U ( so this is how i feel about a good teacher)...
I have never seen somebody so enthusiastic to teach. I looked forward to going into class everyday just because I knew I was going to enjoy it. He made himself available all the time whether it be early morning before school or in the afternoon after school, even after hours through email (his district email) He had such a different technique to teaching which made learning so enjoyable and a natural process. He had such a creative way of teaching us through the use of songs and cartoons (mind you no one failed the state test, everyone got at least an 85)...
So I guess my definition of a good teacher is someone who loves going into work everyday, and doesn't care about the money, doesn't care if they're in school until 5 tutoring, makes sure every single one of his students understands concepts to the fullest. And one that works for the students.
A good teacher is a teacher who can keep sight of what his/her ultimate goal is. Too often I hear teachers complain that they just want to be able to teach, or they can't teach be ause of student behavior, or they can't teach a certain way because of administrators or parents not doing their jobs at home.
A good teacher is one who adapts and makes changes based on the needs of his/her students and keeps sight of the fact that his/her ultimate goal is for the students to learn. Teaching is not the goal, student learning is.
Put another way, someone who creates magazine advertisements has the JOB of creating ads, but the ultimate goal is boosting sales. A train conductor's JOB is to drive the train, but the ultimate goal is to get from point A to point B on time and SAFELY. If he ultimate goal is not met, all the ad creating and train driving in the world means NOTHING.
Same with teaching. All the teaching in the world means nothing if the students are not learning. A good teacher focuses on HOW to get the students to learn and one who is willing to constantly change And improve how they accomplish this goal based on the makeup of each individual class.
A good teacher is a teacher who can keep sight of what his/her ultimate goal is. Too often I hear teachers complain that they just want to be able to teach, or they can't teach be ause of student behavior, or they can't teach a certain way because of administrators or parents not doing their jobs at home.
A good teacher is one who adapts and makes changes based on the needs of his/her students and keeps sight of the fact that his/her ultimate goal is for the students to learn. Teaching is not the goal, student learning is.
Put another way, someone who creates magazine advertisements has the JOB of creating ads, but the ultimate goal is boosting sales. A train conductor's JOB is to drive the train, but the ultimate goal is to get from point A to point B on time and SAFELY. If he ultimate goal is not met, all the ad creating and train driving in the world means NOTHING.
Same with teaching. All the teaching in the world means nothing if the students are not learning. A good teacher focuses on HOW to get the students to learn and one who is willing to constantly change And improve how they accomplish this goal based on the makeup of each individual class.
The premiss of this whole discussion is flawed unless you seriously take into consideration that people are all different, what makes one person a good teacher may not be reasonable for another, or even possible for that matter. Each teacher has a unique quality and character, that's what makes this discussion almost impossible. Too often in education we try to force teachers into some "good teacher" mold. Let them be free! One of my favorite teachers in college was this old cantankerous guy in one of my ed. lecture classes that more or less sat up on the stage and had conversations with himself, "they said Bob, you can't do that, and I told them..." I'm sure that his superiors were in contortions at his approach and style, but I liked it. Students actually respond better to different types of teachers. My classes were laid back, and I interjected a lot of humor, but when it came time to work, I was all business. A lot of kids enjoyed my class, but I'm sure there were kids who didn't like my style or were better suited in a more structured class.
If I may extend the conversation, and I apologize if I skipped over any related posts. As you can imagine, I'm not a big fan of "student center teaching" and the big buzz "differentiation" I don't mind helping kids as best I can, but it's been my experience in life, that it's your job to adapt to those over you or suffer the consequences. That's just the way life works.
I'm not a big fan of "student center teaching" and the big buzz "differentiation" I don't mind helping kids as best I can, but it's been my experience in life, that it's your job to adapt to those over you or suffer the consequences. That's just the way life works.
Does this mean teachers should adapt to administrators, or does it only apply to kids? I'm getting mixed messages here.
Does this mean teachers should adapt to administrators, or does it only apply to kids? I'm getting mixed messages here.
Excellent point, a little bit of a dichotomy here, it just means that there are consequences in either case, but there is no mandate. If a district tries to force teachers to teacher in a certain manner, which many do, then you have but few alternatives. Unfortunately, kids are less equipped and have virtually no choice in the matter, but again, that's life. I'm as concerned about the ones that can't adapt as the next teacher, but keep in mind, this is the concern that brought us NCLB. How's that working for everyone? Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. I prefer freedom myself, and I believe it's the right remedy.
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