Click here to learn more about my students and their work. Teachers make hundreds of important decisions in a single day. Many lessons are taught throughout the day and some do not go according to the lesson plan. An effective teacher must be able to look back at every lesson to see which parts worked and which did not. After doing so, teachers can make the necessary changes. Along with a reflective attitude, teachers must be willing to take risks. Teachers have to do whatever it takes to educate their students. Many of the best ways to teach students are through activities that have never been tried before. Teachers should not be scared of the unknown.
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I believe I am a risk taker. My choice to become an elementary school teacher is a big risk in itself. How many Chinese-American male elementary school teachers have you seen? You challenge yourself when you take chances. Furthermore, you learn when you are challenged. Teachers cannot teach the way they were taught. They must reinvent themselves with innovative and risking activities. Once these activities are tried, they can be adjusted for much smoother flow or incorporate some important ideas not covered. If just one child took away something important, then it was worth the risk.
Flexibility can have many definitions, but what does it mean to teachers? Education should be student-centered. Students should learn what they want to and it is the teacher`s job to facilitate. Each child will have a different set of goals. Teachers must be willing to adjust and adapt to all of the different learning styles.
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Recent research from Howard Gardner has shown that children possess seven separate and distinctive intelligences (interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical-mathematical, verbal lingual, bodily-kinestic, spatial, and musical). Teachers must keep up with recent findings, like this, and assimilate this information into their current knowledge base. In this case, teachers can develop learning experiences based on the student`s strongest intelligence. Effective teachers know their students and how they learn best.
Education is the only profession that has a new beginning every fall. New students mean new parents, expectations, and pressures. Techniques and lessons used in the previous year may not work with your current students. Only with these characteristics: risk taking but reflective attitude, flexibility, and an understanding of student learning will a teacher be an effective teacher.
I have many goals in my future including an intelligent wife, 3-5 children, and a beautiful house. Of course these are important goals but I believe you would like to know my goals relating to education. I would like education to be my career for the rest of my life. I hope to continue to grow by entering a Master`s Degree program as soon as I finish student teaching. In addition, I would like to enter a doctoral program once I have completed a few years of valuable teaching experience. Being a teacher`s teacher is a goal I hope to attain.
Click here to learn more about my students and their work.