Friday, March 9, 2012

My philosophy on what makes an effective teacher

This was part of an application I completed for a teaching position! The questions was asked: what do you think makes for an effective classroom teacher? What do you think of my response? I thought it might be useful to include it on my blog, which I am going to continue during student teaching.

An effective classroom teacher knows their student's ability levels, interests, strengths and weaknesses. This knowledge is very important for lesson planning and differentiating instruction. Being approachable and fair are key qualities that help to build trust and a sense of community in the classroom. An effective teacher is resourceful, having multiple methods of instructing and strategies to help students effectively retain the curriculum content. They also find ways to integrate technology into the curriculum in order to make lessons relevant and current. To be effective, a teacher needs to be professional and have good classroom management while maintaining a balance of student-centred activities and incorporating an inquiry based approach. Knowing students outside of the classroom through extracurricular activities and taking time to get to know each student is the first step in developing a positive classroom environment and being proactive in classroom discipline. First and foremost, a teacher must teach students first and content second!

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