What is Good Teaching?

Teachers always need to think about how their certain teaching styles affect their students. Is what I am doing the best way to explain the information I am presenting them? Are all my students understanding the information? Am I reflecting on my teaching style and then changing them to fit my students or am I having my students fit my teaching style?

This one I know that I will have a lot to talk about, so bare with me. When reading through Ch. 6 in our textbook for the semester it discussed a lot about what is good teaching. There was a part in there that asked the reader to reflect on the teachers that they really enjoyed and why you might have remembered them. That is precisely what I did. First my 3rd grade teacher was one of the reasons why I became a teacher. In third grade I wasn't excelling in school, I struggled a lot in subjects and was receiving a lot of extra help outside of the classroom and school. But nonetheless my teacher made me feel like I could do anything I put my mind to, and eventually I saw that happening. I remember her seeing a painting of a flower that I did in art class and her asking if she could keep it to hang on a wall in her home. It made me feel so special and it made me want to do the best that I could in her class and then in my future classes. I want my students to feel like that. I want to be the teacher that goes out of their way to help a student. Good teaching is accommodating my students and seeing them as individuals instead of as a whole group. I want to see their strengths and find the best ways to make sure those shine through. There is a quote in the text that says, "Central to each persons story is a teacher or teachers who enriched their lives." Teachers have so much impact on their students and it is something that I think teachers should have at the back of their mind everyday.

The textbook also states, "There is no evidence that there is only one way to teach- the possibilities are limitless." This is true. But how do we decide? I think good teaching is a little bit of a mixture of trial and error. Let me explain. Our first year of teaching is probably stressful and a little messy. We are thrown into this world of educating hoping that we put together lessons that will allow all of our students to learn. But we need to take into account the students within our lessons, so we can't just come up with a bunch of lessons all nice and neat and ready to teach. No it isn't that easy. We have to figure out the ways our students learn best and also incorporate their interests. Then after years of this process, we have to look at all of our experiences within our classroom and of course all of the knowledge we have accumulated throughout our years to figure out what is the best way to teach, but it still is probably going to change. Teaching is kind of like an art form. Most people don't see it in that way, but I believe its the best way to describe it. It certainly takes talent and creativity to create lessons that will interest the students as well as teach them in the process.

When reading, "Letters to a Young Teacher" this question was a big part of the book, and I agreed with a lot of what Jonathan Kozol was saying. Good teaching is building relationships with your students. One of the worst things you can do is jump right into your content without taking the time to get to know your students. You must "entrap" your students first with fascination and the "teaching" comes naturally from there. Good teaching doesn't always stay within the four walls of the classroom either. Take time to get to know your students outside of the classroom and go to their homes or an event outside of school that they participate in. Learning should be driven by your students interests and curiosity. Good teachers encourage questions and don't always have the answers. Good teaching is "not hurrying the students out of that age when many things are interesting and so much is new." It is allowing them time to take everything in and be intrigued by things that might be outside of the "curriculum." Good teaching is not taking yourself too seriously. One last quote from that amazing book, because this is a great one talking about when Kozol was visiting a classroom and things started getting out of control so the teacher stepped in, "It was also the impromptu dance the teacher did, only step or two, but just enough to fill the moment with gratuitous amusement so that, even in regaining grown-up governance over those joyful little protons and electrons that I'd inadvertently set into motion, she showed herself to be a woman who was not too overly 'mature,' or too 'professional' to show the happiness she felt at making magic music for the children with a magic, and imaginary flute." This quote is everything that I want to be as a teacher. Good teaching is that quote. I am going to leave it on that note.