How do you know if you are an effective teacher? I would imagine if you ask most teachers if they believe they are doing a good job, they would say, “Yes.” Most teachers know when they are challenged by a class of students or could have taught a lesson better than they did, but overall most teachers believe they are doing all they can to help students achieve.
If you are reading this blog, then you are a special breed of teacher that is about the lifelong learning process. Always looking to learn more and do more for themselves and their students. My favorite kind of teacher!
I’d like to think that I am an effective teacher, but how do I know? As a lifelong learner myself, I have been reading various books about the qualities of an effective teacher.
One of the books I have read is, “The Highly Effective Teacher: 7 Classroom-Tested Practices that Foster Student Success.”
The premise of the book is that we can vastly improve the learning in our classrooms when we maximize our performance through intentional, effective instructional improvements.
INTENTIONALITY OF PRACTICE
This book focuses on ESSENTIAL RESEARCH-BASED, FIELD-TESTED TEACHER ACTIONS that INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF STUDENT SUCCESS.
Often, teachers are seen as proficient-based on their classroom management skills, lesson preparation, etc. But it is the data that tells the whole story.
TRANSFORMATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES
We often have a narrow focus on the everyday tasks of grading, answering emails…
We must be intentional with our time and efforts regarding our teaching practices. We need to focus on the WHY and the HOW of teaching not just WHAT we teach.
Teachers need to let go of nonessential components that are currently being done to make way for intentional teaching.
Comments