What+Makes+a+Good+Teacher?

As we continue in our Master's Program, we all are striving to be good/ better teachers. However, what actually makes a good teacher? What does being a good teacher mean? Please complete the following 3 tasks during the week of 5/16. (You may add tasks 1 and 2 onto the bottom of this page, using your personal color to identify your work. We will conclude our presentation by viewing an inspirational movie, along with discussion, in class on Monday, 5/23. Enjoy!
 * __  ﻿ ﻿ ﻿ ﻿ What Makes a Good Teacher?__**

__**Task #1: Rating Scale-**__ Enthusiastic Resilient Resourceful/ Creative Experience/ further schooling Collaborative Patience Respectful/ Builds a good rapport Confident Reflective Compassionate/ Empathetic

1. Above is a list of 10 attributes that we feel are important for good teachers to possess. Please choose the 5 (from this list) that you feel are the most important. Rank them in order, 1 being the most important, and 5 being the least important out of the group (even though we know that they are all important).

2. Next, briefly explain why you chose your #1 pick to be the most important attribute of a good teacher.

3. Look at others' lists in comparison to your own. Did many chose the same top 5? The same #1? Are everyone's lists different?

__**Task #2: Reflection-**__ 1. Describe a small moment or experience (can be from any time within your life) that you feel positively changed you as a teacher or your teaching.

2. Read others' responses and comment as you wish.

__**Task #3: Mentor Collage-**__ 1. We have all previously reflected about a favorite schooling experience or teacher that we have had. Please choose one "good teacher," or person that you feel has been a positive mentor for your teaching, and create a collage that depicts or describes them. You can choose images, words, etc. from magazines, newspapers, photographs, or drawings. Projects may be created however you wish, as is meaningful to you.

2. Please have collages ready to share with the class on Monday, 5/23.

Class work-
 * __ Task #1: __**


 * Irene: **
 * 1 Reflective **
 * 2 Enthusiastic **
 * 3 Resourceful/ Creative **
 * 4 Respectful/ Builds a good rapport **
 * 5 Experience/ further schooling **
 * I think that being a Reflective teacher is most important. A person must be willing to look at whether the way they are teaching is really working, and how it could be better. In my experience, the worst teachers were ones who stayed with the same plan and never checked in to see whether students were really engaged or even interested. Just as the best way to see whether you’re a good leader is to look around and see whether anyone is following, a good teacher must constantly reflect on whether students are really “getting it.” Enthusiasm and creativity are important as internal connections, sort of a “fuel source.” Building good rapport reaches out to connect with students; experience and schooling make connections to the subject matter and prior best successes. If pared down to a few, these are my top picks. **

Stephanie: 1.Respectful(to students, parents, coworkers) 2.Reflective 3.Compassionate 4.Resourceful 5.Patience Respectful is my number one and reflective number two but they are about equal really. I think you have to build the respect/rapport with your students as well as their families and your coworkers in order for you to have a successful year. Relfecting on everything that you do will also make you a better teacher because if we don't learn and grow from what we do how can we expect our student to do the same? I think that every good teache that I have ever met or worked with has been compassionate, resourceful and patient. I think we have to be even though it is hard to do sometimes but it is during those time we need to do it the most! Jen - 1 = Reflective, 2 = Experience/ further schooling, 3 = Resourceful/ Creative, 4 = Patience, 5 = Collaborative Reflective is my number one in all areas of teaching and in life. If you think about it, through reflection you can achieve most of the other attributes. Reflection needs to be continual and after reflecting you need to make decisions that ultimately lead you to more reflecting and more decisions. What makes a good teacher is the same as what makes a good doctor, carpenter, nurse, lawyer etc. It's that burning desire to think of a better way and solve problems, and that only comes from reflection.

Amy: 1. Compassionate, 2. Resilient (Flexible), 3. Resourceful/Creative, 4. Enthusiastic, 5. Respectful Compassionate and Empathetic is my number one. I think it is what makes a certain teacher the one that you remember your whole life. A teacher needs to be empathetic to the needs of the students because they all think that what is happening to them is the most important thing in the world. They just want someone to listen and try to understand. Everyone wants their voice to be heard and feel that their opinion matters. I chose these five because I believe that they are the most difficult of the ten choices to become, if it does not come naturally to you.

Mark - 1 Enthusiastic, 2= Respectful, 3= resourceful, 4= Patience, 5 = confident. Enthusiasm is my number one, because it can spread like the plague. Enthusiasm about teaching creates high energy and a positive atmosphere that makes students want to learn. Even if they don't care about the particular subject, if they see the enthusiasm they are more inclined to pay attention, take an interest and become enthusiastic themselves. Enthusiasm can create a very positive energy and many students want that when they are sitting in a desk all day at school (at least at the high school level).

Christa- 1) Compassionate/ Empathetic, 2) Enthusiastic, 3) Reflective, 4) Respectful/ Builds a good rapport, 5) Collaborative I chose compassionate and empathetic as my number one choice because I believe that these are such important attributes for a good teacher to posess. Having the ability to care for, understand, relate, and share the feelings of your students, is essential in building strong and positive relationships. These relationships will, most likely, consist of caring, respect, and trust. Due to this bond, the student will be more compliant and motivated to participate and learn, creating a more quality educational experience.

Vanessa: 1.) Compassionate/Empathetic 2.) Respectful/Builds good rapport 3.) Resourceful/Creative 4.) Enthusiastic 5.) Reflective... I put compassionate/Empathetic first, because I once heard a quote that really touched me, "Students don't care what you know unless they know that you care." I find this to be very true. I had a hard time bumping respectful down to #2, since I feel that this is also a very important quality, but then I thought to myself that you can't really be compassionate and empathetic without being respectful, so I guess my number one is sort of all encompassing of the qualities I feel are most important. I also feel that we need to be compassionate as teachers, to create a safe classroom for our students. They may come from peer groups, families, or relationships where they are put down or feel unsafe, and my classroom might be the last place they can come for safety. I have mentioned earlier that there have been multiple suicides in our district within the past couple of years, and want that to stop, so it is very important to me that my classroom is as safe as I can make it.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Carrie: 1. Compassionate/Empathetic 2. Reflective 3. Patient 4. Collaborative 5. Resillient <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I chose compassionate/empathetic as my number one because similar to Vanessa I heard a great quote that has to do w/ compassion. It came from one of my co-workers and a phenomenal teacher who is sadly retiring this year. She had said that my students will be more successful because they know I care. I think this is so true. I think I know this and have proof now more than ever. My long term substitute was very good. She interviewed very well. She was very personable. She had an endless amount of experience both as a long term sub and regular classroom teacher, but unfortunately, it was observed by many of my co-workers and brought to my attention when I came back from my leave, that she didn't really seem to care about my kids. I felt bad for them. We met at the end of 3rd quarter to collaborate on report cards and she was constantly complaining and saying something negative about each child. I know some of my kids can be very challenging, but it was very apparant to me that she didn't sincerely care about them. Worst of all, she didn't hide her feelings. She didn't hide her true feelings from me nor did she hide her feelings from my kids. It was a sad state of affairs. I think teachers need to be reflective because they need to think about what worked well and how they could improve things for next time. It is quite obvious why teachers need a huge amount of patience. Dealing with larger classroom sizes and challenging parents can try someone's patience. Collaboration is important to me because in many cases a teacher cannot and should not do it all. In so many ways, a teacher can be more successful if they can collaborate with other teachers. Teachers also need to be resillient. It takes a lot of perseverence to get through the school day let alone a school year especially with all of the challenges teachers must face. They so often have to dust themselves off and keep on moving along!

<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cheri- My top five attributes in order of importance: Compassionate/Empathetic Respectful, Enthusiastic, Reflective and Creative. <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">I agree with Amy, Christa, Vanessa and Carrie with compassionate/empathetic being my number one attribute for a good teacher. A teacher needs to be able to “walk in their students shoes” to really be able to understand and help their students learn and grow. Unfortunately, As a F/CE high school teacher I usually do not get to meet many parents but after parent conferences, I feel, I am better able to relate to the students of the parents I have met because I am better able to “walk in their shoes,” understand their background and home life. This really helps me as a teacher to understand the whole child, not just the student in my class. Along with that comes respect. A good teacher will respect and celebrate the differences in children. It would be a lot easier to teach if all your students were exactly the same!! I agree with Vanessa who also had a hard time putting respect second, which comes first compassion or respect? Mark put enthusiastic as number one. I agree, when the teacher is enthusiastic it creates and motivates the students to learn. Jen had reflective as her number one. I also agree this is a very important attribute because it is through reflection that we can grow not only as teachers but better human being. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="color: #0065ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Audra~ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="color: #0065ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Compassionate, Reflective, Enthusiastic, Respectful, Patience <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="color: #0065ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">I definitely had to think about this for a while. I found myself rearranging them a few different ways, because they are all very important qualities. I didn’t allow myself to peek at any one else’s top 5 picks, because I wanted to see what I would come up with and compare. I chose compassionate as my number one, because I honestly feel that you can’t be a teacher, or a “good” teacher without having the true desire to work with children. Without compassion to work with children, teaching would become a chore. I ranked reflective as second, because I think that teachers need to be reflective in everything that they do. Teachers need to reflect on a yearly, weekly, daily, sometimes even hourly basis. “Good” teacher reflect back on their educations, previous teaching positions, previous lessons, so that they can learn from those times and do things better the next time around.

<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cheri-Not a small experience but one that has truly changed me, as a teacher is all the experiences I have been through as a parent due to my son. I have experienced things I never thought I needed to and hoped I never would have to learn about but a lot of my students and their parents have encountered these same things. Know I am I am to be empathetic to these students.
 * __ Task #2: __**

<span style="color: purple; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Jen - I have a student who is currently in fourth grade named Jake. Last year I had given up on Jake ever getting past stick people, un-identifiable clay work, and paintings that would end up brown and grey. One day when he was in third grade we were working on drawing buildings for an architecture unit, he asked if he could have a picture of a brick house similar to the one he lives in. Knowing Jake's ability I finally found a black and white picture of a simplified brick two story house. I handed him the picture and continued working with the class. At the end of class as students handed in their work, to put in the art folder, I saw a perfectly drawn two story brick house. I looked on the back to see who did it and was in shock, Jake. I quickly praised his drawing and let him know that all of his effort has paid off. Jake had finally found success in art, because he wanted to, and he never gave up even when I had. Now in fourth grade Jake's art consists of detailed drawings, imaginative and humorous ideas, skillful clay pieces and colorful paintings. Jake taught me a valuable lesson; always be patient and never give up on a student.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Amy: My first year teaching I had a boy in my class named Jake who had suffered a terrible loss the previous year. His father had committed suicide. I do not know why it came up but I overheard a girl in our class telling him that his father was in hell. I was so shocked that I froze at first. I let the rest of the class go to lunch and I pulled Jake aside and asked if he was OK. I told him that I knew his father was not in hell and asked him where he thought his dad was. Of course, he said his dad was in heaven and I told him he was smart to know that. We talked a little more about his dad and I sent him to lunch. Next I talked to the girl. She did not even let me start talking. She told me that her mother had told her that his dad was in hell so that is where he is! I have to admit I was quiet for a minute. Then I told her that she had every right to believe that is what happened. However, how do you think it makes Jake feel to hear you say that? She said he had looked very sad. I told her that she never had the right to hurt someone's feelings. - I have to admit I never thought I would have to have a conversation like that. I thought I handled it relatively well considering how off guard it caught me. I felt like I could handle whatever they threw at me after that! I do think it had been important to be empathetic to everyone'sfeelings and opinions in this situation. __﻿__

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Irene: Seeing teachers through my son’s eyes has changed my teaching the most. I heard about what bothered him most: harsh words, or callous comments that insulted the students, or punishments doled out quickly without finding out what really happened. It made me conscious of how much emotional power a teacher can have over a classroom, and what kind of climate they can create. This has affected my teaching practices the most; it has produced in me a careful monitoring of myself, to treat students with respect that I expect them to have for me.<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: auto;"> <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Stephanie: I think I agree with Irene. My greatest learning experiences have come from my own children's teachers and many of them even before I even became a teacher. With my son having special needs and going through school he had many, many teachers who did not understand him and did not deal with his needs. For them is was easier to kick him out or point him out to the whole class. I think for those teachers it made them feel better to put him on the spot. To this day I will never forget or forgive his 5th grade teacher for the way she made him feel about reading. I will also never forget the way I felt when I walked into her classroom for conferences and saw the huge graph that went all the way around the room with all the student's names and there was Josh's name with not one gold star sticker because he had not finished reading one book. Every time he walked into that room there it was thrown in his face and for everyone else to see....what a bad reader he was. Well guess what, he did not need a gold star to tell himself that he could or couldn't read. He is a very smart kid and would not finish a book just to get the gold star, he liked to push her buttons and was NEVER going to finish a book in that room. I can't say I blame him. The one thing that I learned is not to ever post anything for the whole class or other parents to see and to this day I never have and never will! I have also learned a lot of good things from my kids teachers. My daughter's softball coach/gym teacher has been such a good role model for all of his students and players, my daughter couldn't say enough good things about him. She would walk through fire if he told her it was a the right thing to do. It is kind of nice, I can always use him to hold over her head...."I'm gonna tell coach!" I wish that worked for Josh but oh well. One of these days I will find something that works on him. :) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: auto;">﻿Carrie-Having Mady and Luke for sure changed me in a hugely positive way. I always tried to make a connection to my classroom kids and would talk about my personal life whenever possibly, but it would only consist of talking about Dave, Dakota our dog and maybe my parents or my brother and sister every once in awhile. When I had Mady, I knew what it was like to have a little girl and wanting to always protect her. I found myself almost viewing the girls in my classroom as "my little girls" and wanted to treat them with the same guidance, love and protection also. Then, when I was pregnant with Luke, I was really secretly hoping that he was a boy so that I would feel the same way about the boys in my classroom. Not that I didn't care or love them, but I wanted to know what it was like to have a little boy so I could understand the boys in my classroom on a different level. Having my own kids also helped understand my classroom parents in a way I never knew before. I remember the fall that I returned to school after having Mady. I cried on the way to school and then as parents began dropping off the kindergarteners some parents were crying which reminded me of Mady and leaving her. Needless to say, I was a mess along with the parents, but honestly, I think in some ways it really did positively affect my teaching. After apologizing to one parent because I had shed a tear with her, the mom said, "It just helps to know that you know exactly how I'm feeling." I have so much more empathy for my classroom kids and families than I had ever had before. Vanessa: When I started teaching, I felt down and like I always had to be the bad guy. I first started teaching in what I think was a very difficuly MPS classroom, and then after coming to Mukwonago, I thought it would get so much easier. # of my five classes were really well behaved, but two of them were very difficult for me to keep on task, and they seemed to hate math! I was down and felt like I wasn't doing a very good job. This class was a group of low performing math students who half of them had failed last year and this was their second chance. One day, one of my the students who I felt like I struggled with the most wrote me an apology for her behavior, and explained that she had a very difficult summer (based on her explaination, she was by no means exagerating, she had been raped and also lost a close friend). He therapist helped her realize that she somehow had been taking her anger out on me since I was a new person and didn't know her before. This confuses me. Anyways, she went on to say how much I have impacted her life and how she actually looked forward to my class and that I was her favorite teacher. She wrote specific things that I did that touched her and made her "ok" with life. This was the first time a student ever thanked me, and was definately what made me go on. I was seriously thinking of changing jobs before that! Now, although I've never had a class nearly as challenging as that one, I still remember that it is those little things we do that make us teachers soooo important. And I wouldn't give up having that opportunity, and I love my job. I don't know what I gave her, but she gave me **resiliance**.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Christa- It took me a while to post this portion of the tasks, as I am unsure that I have had, or can recall a specific moment (within my 3 years of teaching) that has truly changed me as a teacher or my teaching. For me, I feel that it is the little moments, such as watching a student grasp a concept or perform a task that they had struggled with previously, thank you cards from families telling of the difference that you have made in their student's life, positive observation reports from peer teachers or administration, hugs from your students, etc, These are the moments that give me the confidence and gratification needed to confirm my capabilities of being a good teacher and give me the motivation, will, and want to carry on!