Good teachers can be described in many different ways. The qualities of "good" will look different depending upon where you are in your career and where you are headed. This is one of the reasons why I'm such a fan of collaborative teaching teams. Typically great teams have teachers who represent many different sets of attributes and goals, thus creating a dynamic team who is able to support, critique, and develop each others' practice. I'm fortunate to work with a team like that.
For me, at this point in my career, the good teacher attributes which are most important include the following:
Positive Demeanor
When you've been teaching as long as I have (32 years!), it's easy to quickly accept or dismiss ideas. I've seen a lot, and I often know what will work and what won't. While this is true, I don't want this to contribute to a closed mind or negativity. I want to stay open minded to new ideas and display a positive demeanor each day in school. The same-old-same-old struggles with too much red tape, supports that look good on paper, but not in reality, and lack of voice and choice can get a teacher down, but I want to speak up with care and concern when those events happen and then focus in on what I can do rather than what I can't do.
Students-First
For those of us who have taught as long as I have, the joy of the job includes a love of shared learning and the interest in helping young children develop with happiness and success. I am passionate about learning on my own and with children. I enjoy the synergy that occurs in classroom where dynamic learning occurs. I also truly enjoy helping students to feel good about themselves, create worthy goals, and work towards those goals. I know that positive early life experiences can result in better lives for those children and others in their lives. I am both proud and enthusiastic about this aspect of teaching, an aspect that takes priority at this point in my career.
Teaming
I work with a dynamic collaborative grade-level team. More than ever at this point in my career, I realize that good teaching is not a solo sport, but instead a team activity. I truly enjoy working with the team of grade-level educators, families, and students to teach well. I enjoy the learning that comes from this teamwork as well as the elevated results we gain as a team.
Creativity, Technology, and Research
I also enjoy the fact that education is constantly evolving. Today's ready access to research and technology has allowed me to be more creative with the ways I help students learn. This too makes the job enjoyable and successful.
Years ago, one aspect of the professional menu that took greater priority was my work outside of the school system. While I still work on teams outside of the school system, my focus now is much more directed to the grade-level team that I work with. I am very interested in the details of teaching well, and think of our grade-level team as a learning lab for best possible learning/teaching efforts. I like this microscopic approach at this stage in my career and believe it's a good match for my personality, abilities, personal obligations, and drive. Also years ago I was very busy navigating life with young children and teaching too. As all teacher-mothers know, that's a mighty task. As a mom of teens and young adults, I have the time to dig into the details of the job in new and interesting ways. It's less about fitting it all in, and more about deepening my teaching/learning approach.
What does it mean to be a good teacher from your vantage point now? What events and activities take priority with your professional work? How are you able to bring both your goals and your expertise to a dynamic teaching/learning team? These are all good questions to consider as you move forward with your teaching/learning practice.
