as a future teacher to improve your teaching essay

Essay on My Goal As A Teacher

Students are often asked to write an essay on My Goal As A Teacher in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on My Goal As A Teacher

My aim in teaching.

As a teacher, my main goal is to help students learn and grow. I want to make sure that every child in my classroom feels safe and happy. It’s important to me that they are excited about learning new things.

Sharing Knowledge

I plan to share knowledge in a fun way. I will use games, stories, and activities to teach lessons. This makes learning enjoyable and helps students remember what they learn.

Supporting Students

I will always be there to support my students. If they find something hard, I will help them understand it. I want to encourage them to do their best and to believe in themselves.

Preparing for the Future

I also want to prepare my students for the future. I will teach them to be kind, to work with others, and to solve problems. These skills are important for success in school and in life.

250 Words Essay on My Goal As A Teacher

Teaching with heart.

My main goal as a teacher is to help my students learn and grow. I want to make sure that every child in my classroom feels safe and happy. I believe that when students are comfortable, they can learn better.

I love sharing what I know with my students. It’s important to me that they understand new things each day. I work hard to explain lessons in a way that is easy to get. I want all my students to feel smart and capable.

Encouraging Questions

Asking questions is a big part of learning. I want my students to feel free to ask me anything. This shows they are thinking and want to know more. I always try to answer in a way that makes sense to them.

Building Confidence

I want each student to believe in themselves. When they do well, I praise them. If they make mistakes, I show them it’s okay and help them learn from it. Seeing my students become more confident is one of the best parts of my job.

Lastly, I aim to prepare my students for what comes next. Whether it’s the next grade or life outside of school, I want them to have the skills they need. I teach them to be kind, work hard, and think about their choices.

In conclusion, my goal as a teacher is to guide, support, and inspire my students. I want them to leave my classroom better than when they came in, ready to take on the world.

500 Words Essay on My Goal As A Teacher

My dream to teach.

One of my goals is to share what I know. I love the idea of teaching students new things. Whether it’s math, science, or how to write better, I want to make sure my students learn a lot. I will work hard to explain things in a way that makes sense to them.

Creating a Safe Place

School should be safe and welcoming for everyone. My goal is to create a classroom where all students feel they belong. No one should be scared to ask questions or make mistakes. I will always listen to my students and make sure they feel comfortable and respected.

Encouraging Curiosity

It’s important to believe in yourself. As a teacher, I want to help my students feel confident. When they know they can do something well, they try harder and do better. I will cheer them on and help them see how great they can be.

Life after school can be challenging. I want to prepare my students for what comes next. This means teaching them not just school subjects, but also how to be good people. I will help them learn to work with others, solve problems, and be kind.

Supporting Dreams

Every student has dreams. I want to support those dreams and help students reach them. If a student wants to be a scientist, an artist, or anything else, I will do what I can to help them on their path. I believe that with the right help, every student can achieve great things.

Being a Lifelong Learner

Teachers need to keep learning too. I will keep studying and getting better at teaching. I want to stay up-to-date with new ways to help students learn. By being a lifelong learner, I can be the best teacher for my students.

In conclusion, my goal as a teacher is to share knowledge, create a safe and happy classroom, spark curiosity, build confidence, prepare students for the future, support their dreams, and always keep learning. I want to leave a lasting, positive mark on each student’s life, and through teaching, I believe I can do that.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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•   Friday, August 30, 2024

Future Educators

Helping America's Future Teachers

I Want to Become a Teacher Because | My Dream Job Essay

My dream is to become a teacher . If you have this dream, you’re not alone. Here’s a collection of short essays by aspiring teachers. Current and future education students were asked to describe their motivation; what inspires them to succeed at their teacher training studies.

In these 31 student essays, future educators answer the question “I want to become a teacher because …” or “I want to become a teacher to …”. The short student essays are grouped thematically, forming the top reasons to become a teacher.

1. Giving Brings Its Own Rewards

Helping people is the unifying theme as to why students are inspired and motivated to become teachers. Education is a field where you can help young people directly in a personal way; potentially changing their lives for the better. Teaching is more than just a job.

For a significant percentage of education students, the opportunity to be of service provides plenty of motivation to pursue a teaching career. In each Why I Want to Become a Teacher essay here, a future educator explains why teaching is an opportunity to do something meaningful and beneficial.

by Hanna Halliar

If I can make an impact in just one child’s life, I will be able to consider myself successful. That is my motivation. As a future educator, what else would it be?

Every day that is spent in class, the late nights at the library, the endless hours of studying are all just steps getting me closer to the goal. When I am still up at 1 a.m. struggling to keep my eyes open, but only half way through my 6 page paper I remember how excited I am to work with my own students one day.

To me, being a teacher is so much more than the typical response most people have towards education majors. “Oh, you’re going to be a teacher. You know how much you will make?” Yes, I’m aware that I will be making an average of $50,000 a year in Indiana.

To me being a teacher means that I get the opportunity to not only teach my students math, English, and science but to teach life lessons that will stick with them as well.  It means walking into school every day being the reason my students look forward to coming to school. It means being surrounded by crafts, books, and music and not being stuck in an office. It means educating our future generation. And if somebody has to do it, it should be somebody who is passionate about it.

So what motivates me to study? It is so simple, it is the kids.

by Savannah Stamates

I lay awake at night and practice my first morning message to my first round of students whom I will not meet for more than a year.

I wonder if I will have hungry children, happy children, or broken children. I wonder if I will be good enough or strong enough to reach those most in need.  I wonder if my students will trust me enough to tell me that they are hungry, happy, or scared.

I worry that I will not be strong enough to share their burden or provide a place for peace and learning. I worry that I will misread their actions or their words or miss them reaching out.

So I study, even when I am tired from working two jobs or sick of not being where I want to be. When my time comes to walk into that classroom, my worries and doubts will be silenced by the knowledge I have mastered and the dream I have finally achieved.

by Charity Latchman

Dreams for the future are subjective. They can be based on what we desire. But visionary dreams are not only for us. Imagine asking some of the greatest revolutionaries and pioneers about their dreams. They generally had others in mind. In the famous “I have a Dream” speech, Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr said “we” more than thirty times. Dreams are not for our benefit alone, but to encourage, inspire and benefit others.

Recently I graduated from California Baptist University with a degree in English literature. During my studies, I was cared for my disabled mother. She was a religious studies professor who inculcated me with a diligent and steadfast approach to schoolwork. Managing the role of caregiver with university studies was challenging. But the goal to become a teacher kept me going. Approaching graduation, my mother was diagnosed with throat cancer. She didn’t worry about herself as much as you might expect but kept pushing me to finish the final paper in the program.

With her encouragement, my faith, and a burning desire to teach English literature, I graduated. My motivation comes from wanting to help, to encourage, and to inspire others.  Teaching is an act of giving that has its own rewards.  Life’s trials bring ups and downs. But we must always strive to attain our dreams, especially when others are central to them.

by Katheryn England

As a high school senior, many people assume I’m prepared for college and know what I want to study after graduation. These assumptions cause me to experience moments of self-doubt. Then I re-evaluate what I want for myself, and what it is that keeps me working towards my dreams. Through the goals I’ve set for myself, I can maintain focus, move past my self-doubt and succeed. By focusing on my goals, I can make a difference in the world directly around me.

A goal I have in my life is to be an elementary teacher, also known as an early childhood teacher. As a teacher,  I can share the knowledge I’ve gained to leave behind a better future for our world .

Last year, I had the opportunity to work alongside a previous elementary teacher and mentor of mine. I’d visit her classroom daily, and taught lessons alongside her or independently. Uniquely, they were the opening act in my high school’s original winter play. They read first-hand from our scripts and learned what happens behind the scenes. Showing a new part of the world to the youth of my community has motivated me to pursue my dreams.

Remembering this experience and the positive influence I had on those students helps me overcome self-doubt and stay focused on my goals. Thanks to the goals I’ve set for my life, I not only can find purpose for my efforts, but find the will to be confident in whatever choices I make.

by Emma Lillard-Geiser

I have always known that I would become two things: a mother and a teacher. What I didn’t know is that I would become the mother before the teacher. Having a child that depends on me is what fuels my desire to succeed in life. When I get frustrated with my studies I take a deep breath, look at my daughter, and know that I have reason to persevere. I know that one hour of studying will give me hours with my daughter as soon as I am done.

My mother is a teacher and growing up I cherished learning from her. She had knowledge that I admired and I quickly realized that I had to spend my whole life learning. I love to learn, to have that light go off in my head when it all just clicks.

I cannot wait to see that light in the eyes of my daughter and my future students.  For every thing that I learn, is another thing I can teach someone else.  It isn’t easy to study when you have a small child to take care of but I know that my education will provide me with the ability to take care of her for the rest of our lives.

2. Help Disadvantaged Students

Students are disadvantaged for many reasons, whether it’s because of a handicap, where they live, economic disadvantage or a language barrier.

Future educators may want to become teachers so they can make a difference in the lives of students who face extra learning challenges. This special interest often comes from the future teacher’s own experience, either personally or involving people they’ve known.

by Ian T Thomason

While attending the University of Minnesota-Mankato, I have aspirations of becoming a Special Education Teacher. Becoming a Special Education Teacher and helping students who have a need for extra help and students who are having troubles with everyday life are things that I dream of doing.  I was in their shoes once and know how difficult it is to deal with everyday life and how nice it was have a teacher to talk to.

Becoming a Special Education Teacher is my ultimate goal and, when difficult times arise, I have to remind myself of the children out there who have it potentially worse than I. When I remember this, I also think back to all of the support that I had from my parents, family members, and teachers. I also know that there are lots of children who don’t have this type of support and, if I can be there for them, that would make my career choice all the more worth it.

My Special Education degree is something more than just a degree for me. It is a degree that allows me to help children improve their education. I realize that children are our future and that their minds are terrible things to waste. So, instead of wasting their minds, why not put our best foot forward to educate them? My dream is to help kids realize their full potential, promote education and a brighter future for every child.

by Katherine

Motivation allows you to persist through difficult circumstances. Mine comes from a desire to grow into an instructor who is able to make a difference to many children’s lives.

In elementary school, I actually was a special education student. I’ve had to work hard most days of my life to achieve anything. I could not have succeeded without the support of some absolutely amazing teachers. Now I desire to take on that supporting role for as many students as I can reach.

When a class or an assignment I don’t want to do come up, I think of what motivates me. And the motivation is children. Many students feel powerless about their education, just like I did.  I could be a teacher who turns their education around, providing vital support and motivation to succeed at their studies.  Ultimately, everyone motivates themselves by one way or another. My motivation comes from the pure desire to help future students.

by Robbie Watson

My road to graduate school has been a long one. I studied religion and culture in undergrad, interested in the material, yet not sure how I would apply it later. Yet I found places, got involved in community and international development, engaged with different cultures, and now feel I use my degree every day.

For over two years I worked alongside Congolese refugees in Rwanda, developing educational opportunities for youths who could not finish secondary school in the underfunded camps. It is these refugees, young and old, the students, the teachers, their passion and vision for a better future that has driven me to seek out more education for myself. I remember how they would pay from their families’ meager funds to attend classes led by volunteer teachers. When finances were against them, or time, or family obligations, or the dire depression of the camp life itself, or even government officials were against them, still those students attended, still those teachers taught.

It is their example of perseverance towards a goal against all odds that inspires me now. I think of them often, think of the friends they were, are still. And I think of how that passion is in me now, to better understand education so that I might better educate, and thus equip such downtrodden communities to work for transformation themselves. I work not only for myself, and am motivated by the potential in those students and educators, which is also in me, and in others like them.

by Natalie Pelayo

I’m a young Latino woman working towards the goal of earning a bachelor degree in bilingual education. On occasions, I feel a slowing in my motivation. But, every time it happens, I think about the goal and that pushes me to move forward.

Looking back to a middle school class I attended, there was a boy who never really participated. He sat in his hoodie, looking down to his desk. Only after trying to talk with him, I discovered he spoke with broken English and a thick Spanish accent. It seemed as if no-one in our class actually knew that he struggled to understand what was being taught because it was presented in English.

By his manner, it was apparent that he had already accepted a dismal fate. Past teachers may have been unable to communicate with him. Eventually, he’d become demoralized.  Thinking about the disadvantages he had to endure provides ongoing motivation to study hard.

I aim to become a bilingual elementary school teacher to support young Spanish-speaking children. As a teacher, I’ll be able to show them that they can succeed. Children need not grow up thinking they’re incapable of learning due to a language barrier. I’ll keep working towards my goal to help ensure teaching is inclusive of all children, no matter their first language.

by Abigail Young

I am an American citizen, but my whole life I have lived in Cameroon, Africa. I have been blessed with an enormous amount of opportunities and a great education at a private international school.

Every day I have seen children and teenagers around me who do not get the same education or have the same possibilities of a “bright” future. I see schools that are forced to have three children share a small table, paper, and pens. I have seen a badly lit room with poor roofs and walls made from bricks. Even in my school there are numerous Cameroonians, my friends, and classmates that do not have the same chances at a higher level education, although they work just as hard.

When I study, I study hard because I do not want to let this chance and opportunity go to waste. I study because I have been undeservedly blessed to be able to go the United States for a high education with better chances at getting scholarship money. I study my hardest because  it is my dream that I may come back and make a difference in countries like Africa with poor education systems . It should be a right for children to be able to learn like I have. Therefore, because of this mindset, I am driven to study not just out of thankfulness for my circumstances, but also in hope that I may be able to give other children a better chance, and a greater reason to study.

3. Helping Many People Is Achievable in Teaching

A powerful source of motivation for some education students is the potential to touch and positively impact the lives of many people. Education is a field of consequence and that’s a good reason for wanting to join the teaching profession.

Over the course of a long career, a classroom teacher may help shape the learning experience of hundreds or even thousands of students. In policy roles, educators can affect millions of people.

by Rachel Bayly

Through high school I worked as a teacher at a daycare. When I left for college I said goodbye to a lot of people, including my students. All summer I had woken up at five in the morning to go to work and wait for them to arrive and put a smile on my face. Those kids motivated me to keep waking up and working hard, and leaving them was not easy.

The thing that made that goodbye worth it, the reason that I keep pushing through this tying chapter of my life is that  I am determined to improve early childhood education in the United States .

I want to be a positive force in the lives of as many children as I possibly can, and I plan on doing that by improving standards and policies for early childhood education and making it more affordable.

Every week I write in my planner, “I will make a difference” and one way that I will change the lives of children and families. On days that I find myself asking, “why am I here?” “why am I going into debt, paying to be stressed out all the time?” I think of my students. I read my “I will make a difference” statements.

I remember that some children out there are stuck in low quality child care centers, they will never reach their full potential, and they need help. I keep working hard everyday so that I can help those children.

by Megan Burns

My ultimate goal is to change the lives of people. Studying to be a teacher is hard. All of the classes that are required, all of the practicums, and all of the time spent just to become a teacher is stressful, but the thought of being able to help just one person changes everything.

It takes one person to be a light in someone’s life. It take one person to be a helping hand. It takes one person to change an unmotivated, broken life, and make it brand new. Qualified teachers are those people.  We motivate students to do their best, we guide students to success when no one else will, and we are always available to listen.  One teacher can change the lives of thousands of students. That is my motivation.

I know that after college, I will be a teacher, a guider, a counselor, and a friend to so many students. No matter how many bad days I have or how many times I want to quit, I just think of what is to come in the future. I can be that change this world needs, even if its in a small high school classroom. It just takes one person.

by Victoria Shoemkaer

My dream is to make a difference in the life of children.

• To make them excited about learning.
• To make it fun the way it used to be when they were younger.
• To show them that someone cares about them and wants to see them succeed.
• To show that they are much more that a test score or a number.
• To believe in them so much, that I do not let them get discouraged from chasing their dreams.
• To showing them that everyone fails and it’s your recovery that determines what happens next.
• To sacrifice myself to gives them more opportunities for success.
• To encourage students to succeed in and out of the classroom for the betterment of themselves and the community.
• To inspire them to change the world, because they can.
• To help them transform into caring and compassionate adults who are ready to conquer the word, but remember where they came from.
• To teach them to do good in the world because anyone can accomplish doing well.

Most importantly, my dream is to make children feel like their voice is important and valued and that they are loved more than they know.

4. Lives Can Be Improved by Dedicated Instructors

Teaching a subject such as Math or English is the everyday task of a teacher. But our prospective teachers see a greater purpose in their training and career path.

The daily motivation to teach doesn’t come from the superficial advantages of a teaching career, such as great job security or extra vacation time. Here are stories by future educators who want to go beyond the curriculum and improve people’s lives all round.

by Savannah Luree Weverka

Teachers are the ones who ignited my love for learning and there is not a day that goes by when I do not challenge myself to a personal goal of lifelong learning.

My mother is a teacher, so I was a student educated in an institution filled with support and a home that also supported education. I recall many teacher “get-togethers” and Husker parties where an informal invitation led to my presence.

Due to all of this support and interaction received throughout my elementary and high school career, Elementary Education continues to be at the top of my career choices. And now, as a senior looking forward to graduating from high school,  teachers remain my role models .

In considering a focus in Elementary Education, I now realize that many teachers not only teach children eight hours of the day, but become doctors for scraped knees, dictionaries for challenging words, mediators between students, and parents away from home.

Now, as I am taking the steps to make my dream come true I hope to make school an escape to free their minds and expand their knowledge. I want to share my love of learning with my students.

by Aaron Banta

Since I was younger, I have had the dream of becoming a history teacher at the high school level. The reason I am striving for this career is thanks to a teacher I had.  They held such a passion for history and taught it so well that it made me want to keep learning everything I could about it.

In college, I have had to work multiple jobs and attend school full-time. I would wake up early in the morning and not get home until late at night. The one thing that kept me on top of my studying and work was the dream I have; to be able to teach history and express my love for it by teaching the next generation. I strive to impact their lives for the better just like mine was.

Being able to pass my courses and get a degree and teaching credentials is the first main goal I am striving for. But being able to have a positive impact on students I have will be an even greater goal that I want to accomplish. I am hoping to guide them through their study of my favorite subject so I can teach them about the world and help them just like my teacher had helped me.

by Chelsea Rogers

At USC Upstate, I am studying to be a Secondary Education Mathematics teacher. The math courses are not easy and the education courses pushes you to challenge yourself. The thought of being a future teacher is what motivates me to keep pushing.

Although I do not know any of my students, they are precious to me and I believe it is my job to change their lives for the better.  Teaching math is my job, but looking beyond my content and into the wellbeing of my students is my passion.

The question I always ask myself is how can I teach students who may not trust me? I have to establish a connection with each student so that they will see I care about them academically, physically, and emotionally. Once students see that you care about them in these areas, it becomes easier to teach them and they are willing to perform to the best of their ability because they know their teacher supports them 100 percent. Being a great teacher is what motivates me to continue striving for my degree.

by Micayla Watroba

One plus one is two. Phone is pronounced with an F sound. 60 divided by 15 is 4. An essay typically has five paragraphs. I know all these things because I went to school. I also had teachers that helped me understand it even when I didn’t get the same opportunities as everyone else.

See, when I was in first grade I was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia. This made school very hard. I was either out of school so often that I missed entire chapters or I was bullied so badly that I couldn’t focus because I was so scared. Having cancer also made it hard for my mom and dad to pay for food and rent much less after school activities and tutoring. I grew up knowing that there were some things that were just not in reach for us. 

For as bad as I had it, I can’t imagine having to live on the streets, going hungry, or even being taught in a language I don’t know.

My dream is to be the teacher that makes sure that every student gets an education that helps them succeed.  I want to make sure that my students not only enjoy being at school but feel safe while there.  My students will know that it doesn’t matter where they came from or what background they came from. I am going to be there and I will not leave them behind. This is my dream.

5. Promote Lifelong Learning in Young People

What inspires some people to become teachers is the power to set young people on the right education path. Helping children to have good early experiences and embrace the learning process can profoundly enhance someone’s life. The potential for transformative early development applies to handicapped and disadvantaged kids as much as anyone.

by Lesley Martinez-Silva

I aspire to make a difference in others’ lives through education. I’m studying to be an elementary school teacher because I believe that children can achieve so much more if they learn early of their potential.

Education has always been my priority. My parents always stressed the importance of obtaining an education, having missed that opportunity themselves. My parents taught me as a child that schooling was vital to success in life. Truly, that lesson has been the most important in my path to college. I don’t think I would’ve made it this far had I not taken my education seriously.

I want to teach others about the importance of education so they too can prosper.  Everything I’m learning at university is important for my future career and, if I don’t study it, I’m failing my future students. Every child deserves the best education available and I should strive to be the best educator possible to provide that for them. When balancing academics, work, and my social life, it can get challenging to keep going. But, with the future of children’s education in my hands, I always get back on track.

by Brianna Rivers

One of my goals is to become a teacher and work in an public elementary school within the greater Boston area (possibly my own elementary school). I want to be a teacher because I enjoy working with children and I know how important teachers are in children’s lives. I plan on receiving my Bachelor’s degree for Early Childhood Education and my Master’s degree in Special Education.

I want to major in Early Childhood Education because  early education is significant for children and is a building block for their future in learning . I also want to major in Special Education because I believe all children should receive equal learning opportunities as well as equal treatment (meaning an inclusive environment, etc).

I think all of my experiences have a positive impact on myself because I am learning more about what it takes to be a teacher and what it takes to be a good teacher. My experiences also have a positive impact on the children and adults I work with. I offer a helping hand to the teachers and a friendly face to the children.

I plan to continue to work hard and take advantage of learning opportunities to achieve both of my goals. Being a teacher is my desire and I will stop at nothing to be a great teacher one day.

by Jennamarie Moody

When I close my eyes, I picture myself in a school located in an urban setting, teaching a classroom of diverse yet alike students. These students are in the second grade, meaning that they are impressionable yet vulnerable to their environment whether this means at home, at school, or in their greater community.

Some of these students don’t speak English as their first language, and some come from low-income households that can limit their educational experiences outside of the classroom. And yet, no matter what differences these students bring to the table, their uniqueness flows throughout the classroom in such a positive energy that embraces, respects, and promotes learning. This is the goal I am working towards; the goal  to inspire our youth to become self-advocates for their learning .

Opportunities for equal educational experiences may not exist, however the beauty lies in the growth of love young students can develop as they are challenged in the classroom to question their surroundings. I plan to make a difference in the lives of the children I meet along the way, and to create a safe learning environment.

Although the tests for certification and studies can be difficult, my passion for education and dedication to shaping the lives of my students is what keeps me going. The end goal is to nurture the development of my students to become active and engaged participants in society, and that is what I intend to do completely.

by Julie Anderson

My long-time goal has been to become a teacher, and this year I’m in a class called Teachers for Tomorrow, where I get to shadow a kindergarten teacher. Working with her and the students has increased my interest in children with special needs.

From here on out, I want to support my students in academics and other parts of their lives so I can help them learn, grow, and succeed. I know that children need a strong start to their school career because the first few years of school are crucial; this is when students begin to love or hate learning itself. Whether or not children enjoy school, they deserve to appreciate learning. Students who love learning will always want to improve themselves.

I will make an effort to provide a loving environment where each child can prosper. However, for students with special needs, this task becomes even harder to accomplish because traditional classrooms are usually set up for non-disabled students.  While I know I can’t “save” every student I teach, and some of them will still hate learning, at least I can start them off right.

When I’m swamped with schoolwork, I will imagine my future students and how I could influence their lives. Even though not all of my college classes will relate to my major, forming a habit of working hard in college will help me to succeed as a future teacher.

6. Teachers Are Excellent Role Models

The experience of being helped and transformed by a good teacher leaves a lasting impression. Teaching is considered a noble profession for good reasons.

Some education students are motivated to become a teacher to emulate their own role models. They want to provide the same kind of service they once received. An added reason for pursuing a teaching career is to be a role model to younger people outside the classroom, including one’s own children.

by Teresa Pillifant

My first day – well, more like first semester- of my freshman year in high school was the hardest semester of my whole school career. Usually the kind of student who loves school, I found myself getting stomach aches in the morning and dreading school with my whole being. I was new to the school, and the number of students was overwhelming.

It seemed like there was no relief, except for my first hour Spanish class. Having no friends, I would always arrive at my first hour class early. As this pattern continued, my Spanish teacher and I developed a relationship. My teacher started giving me books to read, asking my opinion on what we should do in class and just talked to me in general about life. Through my teacher’s support, I grew to find my place in the school and became more confident.

Her kind words and actions inspired me to become a teacher myself.  Now, whenever school or life gets difficult, I think of my freshmen year Spanish teacher and how she inspired me. I want to do what she did for me for my future students. Whether it be a difficult test or a challenging class, my goal of making a difference in a student’s life keeps me going.

by Mo Cabiles

The world we live in is hard, unsteady and ruthless. We see this everyday in the harshness of homelessness, to social media screaming for justice. What motivates me to continue on is that I have felt the bitter cold bite of homelessness. I know what it’s like to not have enough to eat and to be scared of what will happen next.

I am fortunate to no longer be in those situations but that, by no means, is an indicator that it will all now come easy. As an adult learner and your “non-traditional” student, there are other obstacles I must overcome. From transportation to childcare or education application mastery to APA formatting, the many roadblocks I tackle both large and small are what I consider to be my victories.

I’ve seen what having a higher education can do for someone and I want that for myself and that of my daughters.  I strive to be a good example for them , to show them that, regardless of social standing and unforeseeable circumstances, if they work hard and put their best effort forward, they can achieve their dreams.

My dream is to obtain my Masters in Education with an emphasis in counseling. I want to be an academic advisor or guidance counselor. I’ve seen so many youths attempt community college and fail because they fell through the cracks. These students need to realize their potential and I want to help them achieve that and to be their cheerleader.

by Gia Sophia Sarris

In every school I’ve ever attended, experienced teachers were there to support and inspire me. I have looked up to these people ever since I was in elementary school, and they have had an immense and positive impact on my life and my view of the world.  My fondness for these people [educators] has led me to aspire to become a teacher.

I want to “pay it forward” and improve the lives of children and teenagers who grow up struggling as I did, or in any way for that matter. I want to make a difference in their lives and let them know that they are not alone with their problems.

This is what motivates me to study hard. Becoming a teacher, I believe, will help me fulfill my purpose in life, which I think is to create happiness and ease the burdens of others. I feel that children and teenagers need this especially, because they are struggling to understand the world and their place in it. I study hard for their sake.

by Jennifer Wolfert

From elementary school to my first year at college, I struggled to establish a dream for myself. Trying to figure out what career I wanted to pursue as successful adult always filled me with anxiety. I had spent multiple years in special education and left with a low academic self-esteem. So, after high school I attended Bucks County Community College in search for more time. Still I made no progress. Then I decided to change my outlook. I stopped asking “what do I want to do?” and started asking “who do I want to be?”. That’s when my dream took shape.

The educators that I met during my time at community college were my inspiration.  They are brilliant, hardworking people with a passion for their specialty that I had never seen before. Their belief in hard work was infectious. School began to fill me with excited anticipation and my grades improved. I started to believe that if I worked hard enough then I could be like them and inspire others like they had inspired me.

At the end of my second year attending community college, I accomplished a task that had previously racked me with fear. I applied to Temple University as a Secondary English Education major. I have now completed my second semester at Temple and earned my first 4.0 GPA. In time, I am confident that I will be able to accomplish my dream. I will become the passionate and inspiring educator that my younger self never had.

by Jenyfer Pegg

My entire life has been filled with discouragement. I grew up in a household where I was constantly told “No”. I was told my ideas were stupid and would not work. In my junior year of high school, my teachers and counselors started talking about college and sending in applications to different places. At that point, I knew I was not going. I came from a poor family and I knew we could never have money for something like college.

But I went on college visits, I listened to people speak about their college, and I was set. I had a lot of things pushing me, except the one thing I really wanted, my family. No one in my family has gone to college, and when I told my mother, she was shocked. She told me she just wanted me out of the house.

When I came to school, I realized I wanted to teach high school. I want to make an actual difference in someone else’s life. My family has taken the same road for years, and I’m not going down that road. I won’t live paycheck to paycheck like my mom, I will be a person that others will look up to.

I’m going to do something worthwhile, and I will work harder than anyone else if it gets me there.  I’ve seen what my life will be like without school and motivation and there is absolutely no way I’m going down that road. I’ve got bigger plans.

7. Unlock the Success Potential of Students

Educators want to help students in every way they can but, for some future teachers, the focus is on helping students soar. That child in front of you in the classroom might grow up to do great things for society, raise a strong family, or just be happy and fulfilled.

Whatever the potential of a pupil, a teacher’s job is to help unlock talents and remove any barriers to future success.

by Tamara Vega

The thing that motivates me the most is the thought of having my own classroom someday. I want to be the teacher that changes a child’s life, inspires them to set high goals for themselves and encourages them to reach it.

College can be so hard at times and I get really anxious and scared. I worry about not passing my classes and exams, I worry about not getting my degree. Despite that I do not give up because I have to do this and I want to do this.

I cannot see myself doing anything else besides teaching, I have never been this passionate about something. I want to graduate and get my degree. I’d love to look at it and say, “I worked hard for this and I earned it”.

The idea that the students in my classroom could grow up to cure cancer, or become president, pretty much anything they want, brings me so much excitement.   I want to be the teacher that they remember, the one who helped them realize their dream and who gave them the knowledge needed to reach it.

Be the teacher that I needed as a child but unfortunately never had. That is what gets me through all the stress and anxiety, I know in my heart that all the studying I’m doing right now will be worth it in the end.

by Nicole Gongora

The dream of success motivates me to study – not my success, my future students’ success. I push myself through the rough spots for them.

I was a lost child in high school; I didn’t know how to apply to college, let alone afford it. No child should have to experience that. As a future educator, I am committed to helping my students succeed, achieve more, and continue onto higher education.  Every child should be given the opportunity to showcase their strengths and follow their dreams.

College was never a dream for me; it was a far off, unattainable fantasy. I met some inspiring teachers in high school who encouraged me to change my life and who helped me to thrive. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I plan to work at a low-income school similar to the one I attended. These types of schools are the ones who lack resources. I will serve as a resource to my students and I hope to be an inspiration to them. In turn, I hope they become kind, respectful adults. I want them to see the virtue in helping others and I hope they will serve others in their future careers. I want to be the teacher they remember. I want to be the teacher that helped them succeed.

I’ll feel successful as a teacher if my students are successful in attaining their goals. If one student decides to achieve more then I will have lived out my dream.

by Madison Sherrill

I’ve decided to become a teacher because I want to show the value of compassion and diversity.

As I begin college this upcoming fall, my main motivation is the students. While I haven’t even met them yet, they inspire me to persist in my classes and stay optimistic.  My classroom will support innovative thinking and celebrate each student’s individuality.

As a classroom teacher, I want to encourage and positively influence the next generation. They should know that they can be successful and achieve what they aspire to become while making the world better. By teaching the value of inclusiveness and the power of kindness, my students may turn out to be visionary thinkers and leading members of society.

by Alicia Costin

I am returning to school after taking a few years off. After graduating from California Lutheran University with my BS in Mathematics, I wanted to land a job with benefits and begin my “adult life”.

While it took me a few months to find my current job, is it just that; a job. I have benefits, a full-time schedule, weekends and holidays off, but am I happy? Is this what I want to do as a career for the rest of my life? I have asked myself this question a few times and the answer is always the same; no.

My dream is to become a teacher and help motivate and encourage students to do their best in their studies and in life.  It is my dream to do what I was meant to do; shape young minds and help future generations.

When things become difficult during my graduate program, I know to keep pushing, thriving, and studying hard so that, when I do become a teacher, I can use this as a positive story to shape their way of life. I landed a job outside of college, however now it is time for me to land my career.

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Becoming a Teacher: What I Learned about Myself During the Pandemic

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Introduction to the Article by Andrew Stremmel

Now, more than ever, we need to hear the voices of preservice teachers as well as in-service teachers during this pandemic. How has the pandemic affected them? In what ways has the pandemic enabled them to think about the need to really focus on what matters, what’s important? What were the gains and losses? These are very important questions for our time.  In this essay, Alyssa Smith, a senior studying early childhood education, attempts to address the lessons learned from her junior year, focusing on the positive aspects of her coursework and demonstrating an imaginative, growth mindset. This essay highlights the power of students’ reflection on their own learning. But I think it does so much more meaningful contemplation than we might expect of our students in “normal” times. Alyssa gains a new appreciation for this kind of active reflection—the opportunity to think more critically; to be more thoughtful; to stop, step back, catch her breath, and rethink things. As a teacher educator and her mentor, I believe this essay represents how the gift of time to stop and reflect can open space to digest what has been experienced, and how the gift of reflective writing can create a deeper level of thinking about how experiences integrate with one’s larger narrative as a person.

About the Author

Andrew Stremmel, PhD, is professor in early childhood education at South Dakota State University. His research is in teacher action research and Reggio Emilia-inspired, inquiry-based approaches to early childhood teacher education. He is an executive editor of  Voices of Practitioners .  

I’ve always known I was meant to be a teacher. I could feel my passion guide my work and lead my heart through my classes. So why did I still feel as if something was missing? During the fall of my junior year, the semester right before student teaching, I began to doubt my ability to be a great teacher, as I did not feel completely satisfied in my work. What I did not expect was a global pandemic that would shut down school and move all coursework online. I broke down. I wanted to do more than simply be a good student. I wanted to learn to be a great teacher. How was I supposed to discover my purpose and find what I was missing when I couldn’t even attend my classes? I began to fret that I would never become the capable and inspirational educator that I strived to be, when I was missing the firsthand experience of being in classrooms, interacting with children, and collaborating with peers.

It wasn’t until my first full semester being an online student that I realized the pandemic wasn’t entirely detrimental to my learning. Two of my early childhood education courses, Play and Inquiry and Pedagogy and Curriculum, allowed limited yet meaningful participation in a university lab school as well as engagement with problems of substance that require more intense thinking, discussion, analysis, and thoughtful action. These problems, which I briefly discuss below, presented challenges, provocations, possibilities, and dilemmas to be pondered, and not necessarily resolved. Specifically, they pushed me to realize that the educational question for our time is not, “What do I need to know about how to teach?” Rather, it is, “What do I need to know about myself in the context of this current pandemic?” I was therefore challenged to think more deeply about who I wanted to be as a teacher and who I was becoming, what I care about and value, and how I will conduct myself in the classroom with my students.

These three foundations of teaching practice (who I want to be, what I value, and how I will conduct myself) were illuminated by a question that was presented to us students in one of the very first classes of the fall 2020 semester: “What’s happening right now in your experience that will help you to learn more about yourself and who you are becoming?” This provocation led me to discover that, while the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light (and at times magnified) many fears and insecurities I had as a prospective teacher, it also provided me with unique opportunities, time to reflect, and surprising courage that I feel would not otherwise have been afforded and appreciated.

Although I knew I wanted to be a teacher, I had never deliberately pondered the idea of what kind of teacher I wanted to be. I held the core values of being an advocate for children and helping them grow as confident individuals, but I still had no idea what teaching style I was to present. Fortunately, the pandemic enabled me to view my courses on play and curriculum as a big “look into the mirror” to discern what matters and what was important about becoming a teacher.

As I worked through the rest of the course, I realized that this project pushed me to think about my identity as an educator in relation to my students rather than simply helping me understand my students, as I initially thought. Instead, a teacher’s identity is formed in relation to or in relationship with our students: We take what we know about our students and use it to shape ourselves and how we teach. I found that I had to take a step back and evaluate my own perceptions and beliefs about children and who I am in relation to them. Consequently, this motivated me to think about myself as a classroom teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic. What did I know about children that would influence the way I would teach them?

I thought about how children were resilient, strong, and adaptable, possessing an innate ability to learn in nearly any setting. While there were so many uncertainties and fear surrounding them, they adapted to mask-wearing, limited children in the classroom, and differentiated tasks to limit cross-contamination. Throughout, the children embodied being an engaged learner. They did not seem to focus on what they were missing; their limitless curiosity could not keep them from learning. Yet, because young children learn primarily through relationships, they need some place of learning that helps them to have a connection with someone who truly knows, understands, and cares about them. Thus, perhaps more than any lesson, I recognized my relationship with children as more crucial. By having more time to think about children from this critical perspective, I felt in my heart the deeper meaning children held to me.

My compassion for children grew, and a greater respect for them took shape, which overall is what pushed me to see my greater purpose for who I want to be as an educator. The pandemic provided time to develop this stronger vision of children, a clearer understanding of how they learn, and how my identity as a teacher is formed in relationship with children. I don’t think I would have been able to develop such a rich picture of how I view children without an in-depth exploration of my identity, beliefs, and values.

In my curriculum course, I was presented a different problem that helped me reflect on who I am becoming as an educator. This was presented as a case study where we as students were asked the question, “Should schools reopen amidst the COVID-19 pandemic?” This was a question that stumped school districts around the nation, making me doubt that I would be able to come up with anything that would be remotely practical. I now was experiencing another significant consequence of the pandemic: a need for new, innovative thinking on how to address state-wide academic issues. My lack of confidence, paired with the unknowns presented by the pandemic, made me feel inadequate to take on this problem of meaning.

To address this problem, I considered more intentionally and reflectively what I knew about how children learn; issues of equity and inequality that have led to a perceived achievement gap; the voices of both teachers and families; a broader notion of what school might look like in the “new normal”; and the role of the community in the education of young children. Suddenly, I was thinking in a more critical way about how to address this problem from the mindset of an actual and more experienced teacher, one who had never faced such a conundrum before. I knew that I had to design a way to allow children to come back into a classroom setting, and ultimately find inspiration for learning in this new normal. I created this graphic (above) to inform families and teachers why it is vital to have students return to school. As a result, I became an educator. I was now thinking, feeling, and acting as a teacher. This case study made me think about myself and who I am becoming as a teacher in a way that was incredibly real and relevant to what teachers were facing. I now found inspiration in the COVID-19 pandemic, as it unlocked elements of myself that I did not know existed.

John Dewey (1916) has been attributed to stating, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Learning may begin in the classroom, but it does not end there. Likewise, teaching is not a role, but a way of being. The ability to connect with children and to engage them meaningfully depends less on the methods we use than on the degree to which we know and trust ourselves and are willing to share that knowledge with them. That comes through continually reflecting on who we are in relation to children and their families, and what we do in the classroom to create more meaningful understanding of our experiences. By embodying the role of being an educator, I grew in ways that classroom curriculum couldn't prepare me for. Had it not been for the pandemic, this might not have been possible.

Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education . New York: MacMillan.

Alyssa Marie Smith  is currently an early childhood education student studying at South Dakota State University. She has been a student teacher in the preschool lab on campus, and now works as a kindergarten out of school time teacher in this same lab school. In the fall, she plans to student teach in an elementary setting, and then go on to teach in her own elementary classroom.

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Effective Teachers’ Skills and Qualities Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

The term stakeholder that refers to the educational process means people who provide well-being and success for a school and its students. Teachers, administrators, personnel, parents, and even students are all stakeholders. However, it goes without saying that teachers are the most important part of education.

Firstly, it is important to understand the essence of good teaching. Great teachers have a combination of many qualities. It is believed that such qualities as warmth, planning, and self-discipline determine a good teacher. Although a good teaching demands deep knowledge of subject matter and erudition, these characteristics are not number one. According to Slavin (2006, p. 3), “effective teachers not only know their subjects, but they can also communicate their knowledge to students.” It cannot be denied that it is crucial for teachers to follow instructions and rules. Nevertheless, teaching is a creative profession especially considering that every student has a unique personality, and it is very important to find a special approach to every individual and teach children in accordance with their personal abilities. What is more, one of the most necessary characteristics of great teachers is attentiveness. Due to this, good teachers develop close relationships with their students that, to some extent, help children to succeed not only in school but also in their future lives.

To sum up, some people say that teaching is not a profession, and it is a vocation. They assume that teachers are born that way and have some extra abilities. Although there is a sound idea in this statement, it is essential not to forget that to be a great teacher, a human has to get a degree in education and acquire necessary teaching skills.

Reference List

Slavin, R 2006, Educational psychology: Theory and practice , Allyn and Bacon, Boston.

• Characteristics of an Effective Teacher
• Teacher Self-Efficacy: Significance and Improving
• The Attitude to Vocation as the Theme of Michael Dorris “The Benchmark”
• Max Weber: Economic History, Theory of Bureaucracy, and Politics as a Vocation
• How to Recognize an Informational Web Page: Nursing Informatics
• Self-Management for Enhancing Teaching and Learning
• Role, Responsibilities and Boundaries of a Teacher in Terms of Teaching Cycle
• Team Collaboration Between Teachers in Schools
• Why I Enjoyed a Particular Teacher
• Three Basic Ethical Considerations in Educational Practice
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Teacher — The Power of Teacher Inspiration: How Educators Shape the Future

The Power of Teacher Inspiration: How Educators Shape The Future

• Categories: Teacher Teacher-Student Relationships

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Published: Apr 17, 2023

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How I see myself as a future teacher? Interview questions answered

Whether you are writing a short essay as a part of your application for a place in a study program for future teachers, or interviewing in front of an admission committee at school, you will always face some questions about the vision of your future . The goal of the people from the school is simple: They try to understand your real motives , why you want to study teaching. They wonder if this really is your dream , or you are just following the dreams of your parents. Your answer also helps them understand what you hope to offer to your students in the future, and whether it aligns with the values they try to promote at their school.

7 sample answers to “How do you see yourself as a future teacher?” interview question

The more specific your answer the better.

As a rule of a thumb, you should come up with a positive and tangible vision of your future as a teacher. People in the admission committees are looking for applicants with a concrete vision, perhaps even a specific place where you want to teach, or at least a specific subject, grade level , etc. Saying that you simply want to be a great teacher won’t do the trick, unless you have a great GPA and application is a mere formality in your case.

So, think about your vision–teaching Physics at secondary school, PE at elementary, or even lecturing at the University. Maybe you want to teach in slums, or bring huge innovation on board of some school, or you even do not dream of becoming a teacher –that’s just a milestone on your journey towards the role of a school principal. All of that is fine, and they will love that, as long as you explain it clearly in your answer. I hope you will do so, and wish you best of luck in the application process!

10 Tips to Improve Your Teaching Skills

As an educator you’re used to being in front of the class leading lectures, discussions, presentations and the like, all in the name of imparting a lesson or concept upon your students. To be the best teacher you can, it also helps to try being a student once again.

Your passion for education has motivated you to seek out ways to improve your teaching skills . That isn’t always easy, given the countless hours spent in and out of the classroom working on instruction, grading, lesson prep, meetings, conferences, and more.

Luckily, we have compiled an easy reference with suggestions for teacher’s improvement tactics and tools that you can use right now. These 10 strategies, divided into the in-classroom and out-of-classroom settings, are sure to help spark your curiosity as an education professional and guide you as you seek to improve your teaching methods.

In-Classroom Suggestions for Teacher Improvement

1. start small, think big.

We know that there is much more material to get through with students than there is time in the day, which often drives teachers to try to cram in as much as possible. Unfortunately, this rarely works, as studies show that students struggle to pay attention and fall off task when instructions lasts longer than 10 minutes.

Therefore, it’s impractical to try and teach a large concept all at once – not only will your students never retain all that information, they’ll stop paying attention just minutes into the lesson. Instead, it is vital that teachers today break down large concepts into smaller, more digestible lessons. Essentially, focus on the granular first and build to large concepts.

One method that helps teachers take big-picture concepts and make them small is the ADEPT method. The ADEPT method breaks your potential lesson into five simple steps:

• Analogy – Tell them something it’s like
• Diagram – Help them visualize it
• Example – Let them experience it
• Plain English – Describe it in everyday words
• Technical Definition – Discuss the formal, bigger-picture details

Once you have laid the foundation and slowly built up your students’ knowledge base about a concept or subject, you have increased the odds they are absorbing the lesson and will retain it. This not only helps them do well in class, it helps you get through more material and have a more successful semester.

2. Utilize the latest technologies

Technology is inevitably impacting your classroom one way or another, so why not leverage it to improve your teaching skills? Whether it be apps, games or tools, technology can and will change how teachers teach and students learn.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services published a comprehensive report outlining their goals for technology’s role in the future of America’s classrooms. Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education states that, “educators will be supported by technology that connects them to people, data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more effective teaching for all learners.”

This report also outlines four guiding principles teachers should implement to help them best use technology in education:

• #1: Technology — when used appropriately — can be a tool for learning.
• #2: Technology should be used to increase access to learning opportunities for all children.
• #3: Technology may be used to strengthen relationships among parents, families, early educators and young children.
• #4: Technology is more effective for learning when adults and peers interact or co-view with young students.

Technology also helps teachers adapt lessons into a teaching style known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The National Center on Universal Design for Learning and education nonprofit CAST recommends implementing various technologies and flexible learning environments to help teachers accommodate and reach more diverse learning styles. One Indiana school implemented UDL using technology and, since implementation, their graduation rates have increased 8% while overall AP class enrollment has also substantially increased.

3. Prioritize student relationships

Depending on your grade level and subject area, you are teaching students of different ages, genders, personalities, learning styles, socioeconomic circumstances and more. Appreciating those differences will pay dividends in the long run and help nurture an environment conducive to learning.

Ready to take your expertise to the next level? Explore our Character Education Development certificate program now! >

Positive teacher-student relationships are shown to improve academic and social performance for students, according to the American Psychological Association . To help nurture the teacher-student relationship in a safe, appropriate and effective manner while also improving your teaching skills, try these strategies from the APA:

• Set clear expectations and rules
• Make an effort to get to know and connect with each student
• Spend time with them individually
• Foster a positive social climate in the classroom
• Give meaningful feedback

4. Empower parents to be your ally

Parents are more involved in their children’s education than ever before, so why not use this to your advantage? Parents can be a valuable tool to improve student and teacher successes in the classroom.

Building these relationships starts from the very first day of school. Send home a note or even an email and make it very clear what your expectations are for both student and parent. This can help to nurture an open, honest and trustworthy relationship with parents from the get-go.

Technology is also helping to remove any communication roadblocks – both good and bad – between teachers and parents. With student emails and learning portals, parents can get instantaneous feedback on their child’s performance, and you as a teacher can communicate where and how parents can help them meet your expectations.

5. Ensure your curriculum knowledge

As the saying goes, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” Just as we cannot expect our students to retain all of the information they are taught, teachers should not expect to remember everything they have learned over the years.

One important and effective strategy to improve your teaching skills is to keep your knowledge fresh and current. Some suggestions to help:

• Take continuing education courses
• Join professional organizations relevant to your subject or education in general
• Revisit your lesson plans

5 REASONS WHY CONTINUING EDUCATION MATTERS FOR EDUCATORS

The education industry is always changing and evolving, perhaps now more than ever. Learn how you can be prepared by downloading our eBook.

Out-of-Classroom Suggestions for Teacher Improvement

6. ask for feedback – and use it.

Constructive feedback is an essential tool to improve your teaching skills. When gathered from different perspectives – such as from your peers, leadership and students – you get an honest look at how you can become a better teacher. Here are some suggestions to help:

• Ask another teacher to sit in on your class.
• Ask your department chair or administrator to sit in on your class.
• Ask your students for feedback.
• Make the feedback actionable.

Being receptive to feedback will not only help you improve as a teacher, but will help students develop a positive perception of you as an individual. Students are smart and know when their teacher truly wants to help them succeed.

7. Collaborate with colleagues

Two heads are often better than one, and this holds true in teaching. Collaborating with your colleagues can provide new perspectives, strategies, and support that can enhance your teaching methods. Here are some ideas to foster collaboration:

• Join or form a professional learning community (PLC).
• Engage in peer observations.
• Share lesson plans and resources.
• Participate in collaborative teaching or co-teaching arrangements.

Working with colleagues not only improves your teaching skills but also fosters a sense of community and shared purpose within your school.

8. Pursue professional development

Continual learning is vital for teachers to stay updated with the latest educational trends, technologies, and methodologies. Professional development can take many forms, including:

• Attending workshops and conferences.
• Participating in webinars and online courses.
• Enrolling in graduate programs or certificate courses.
• Reading professional journals and books.

Investing in your own professional growth ensures that you remain an effective and inspired educator, capable of bringing the best practices to your classroom.

9. Reflect on your teaching practices

Self-reflection is a powerful tool for professional growth. By regularly examining your teaching practices, you can identify areas for improvement and celebrate your successes. Consider the following strategies:

• Keep a teaching journal.
• Record and review your lessons.
• Set specific, measurable goals for improvement.
• Seek out and reflect on student feedback.

Reflective practice helps you to be more mindful and intentional about your teaching methods, ultimately leading to better outcomes for your students.

10. Balance work and life

Teaching is a demanding profession that requires significant time and energy. To avoid burnout and maintain a high level of effectiveness, it is crucial to balance your professional responsibilities with personal well-being. Here are some tips:

• Set boundaries for work hours.
• Engage in regular physical activity.
• Practice mindfulness or meditation.
• Make time for hobbies and interests outside of teaching.
• Seek support from family, friends, and colleagues.

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance ensures that you remain energized and passionate about your teaching, which benefits both you and your students.

By implementing these 10 strategies, you can enhance your teaching skills, foster a positive learning environment, and ultimately improve the educational experiences of your students. Remember, the journey to becoming a better teacher is ongoing, and every step you take towards improvement makes a significant impact on the lives of your students.

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Recommendations from the just-published executive summary of “Where it’s needed most: Quality professional development for all teachers”

Quality teaching and student learning are tightly interconnected. Together they form two sides of a triangle. The third side of this triangle is often overlooked, but is also integral to teaching quality and student learning—quality instruction and preparation for teachers.

Unfortunately, all too often, the children who could benefit most from quality teaching—children in low-income contexts, in crisis or conflict settings, in remote or remote geographical environments—have little exposure to quality teaching.

And unfortunately, all too often, in these same settings, the teachers who could benefit most from quality professional development (PD) that would equip them with the skills to help more children learn either receive no PD or take part in ineffective professional development.

Where It’s Needed Most: Quality Professional Development for All Teachers , published by the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) in 2015, draws on research about effective professional development in fragile contexts.

The guide, and now a just-published condensed executive summary , presents seven major recommendations from both research and experiential best practices to improve teacher professional development in fragile contexts. This post outlines these recommendations.

Recommendation 1: Focus on teachers in low-income and crisis-affected contexts as professionals, learners and individuals

As with any vocation, teachers need to develop strong identities as professionals.  In addition to obvious factors such as recruitment, remuneration, and opportunities for advancement, teacher professionalism is also impacted by access to quality professional development.

It’s hard to feel like a professional when you don’t feel competent, when you get no training or support, when you teach children with severe academic and emotional needs and when you have no idea how to address these needs.

But not simply any PD will do. As the guide notes, teacher professional development must focus on helping teachers employ “high-yield” instructional practices—formative assessment, feedback, clarity in explanations—that have shown direct measurable impacts on student learning (Hattie, 2009). 

Recommendation 2: Develop, apply, measure and institutionalize standards for teacher professional development

We know from research what constitutes effective professional development. Despite this knowledge, within donor-funded humanitarian and development projects, there are no standards defining quality professional development and too few qualified providers.

Without a shared and codified understanding of “quality” professional development, teachers are often subjected to mediocre, and in some cases, malign professional development that doesn’t help them and that in fact wastes their time and donor money.

The INEE guide proposes that the international education community define and establish standards and metrics for “quality” professional development.

We are aware that many in the education community have been averse to the development and implementation of standards—in part because the challenges and volatility of many fragile contexts may make attainment of standards challenging and in part because of what may be perceived as their excessive rigidity (think non-bendy bananas ).

But standards define minimal competencies of providers and benchmark of quality that promise improved inputs and experiences. They need not result in excessive rigidity. Standards— or teacher professional development curriculum—can be customized or contextualized to adapt to local situations.

Recommendation 3: Create professional development opportunities that promote teacher collaboration

The research on teacher collaboration—everywhere—is unequivocal. Collaborating with colleagues—and the culture of trust and knowledge sharing that collaboration produces— has been linked to increased teacher effectiveness, improved student test-score gains (Kraft & Papay, 2014), and teacher willingness to adopt new innovations (Granovetter & Soong, 1983).

But collaboration does not happen ex nihilo —people must have a reason to collaborate, be oriented on how to be a productive team and collaborative groups must, at least at first, be facilitated by a “more knowledgeable other.”

To further promote teacher collaboration, the INEE guide proposes three actions:

• Design for collaboration, for example by promoting peer-to-peer classroom visits with time for feedback
• Strengthen peer-to-peer instruction,
• Promote and nurture effective and active teacher learning communities.

Recommendation 4: Provide teachers with ongoing support

Teacher “support” is not monolithic, but rather a multilayered array of different types of assistance that help teachers successfully transfer learning from a professional development setting to a classroom setting. It can include administrative, instructional, resources, peer support, supervisory support and instructional support from a “more knowledgeable other.”

The research on ongoing teacher support notes that teachers who receive on-the-job support, guidance and feedback from a supervisors or a trained support person apply new skills and strategies more frequently and appropriately and adopt a more diverse range of instructional practices than teachers who do not receive such supports (Showers & Joyce, 1996).

Simple support strategies, such as teacher observation and feedback by a skilled educator, have been shown to positively influence teacher practice and motivation (OECD, 2009).

To address this situation the guide proposes four actions:

• Develop systems for (real, “high touch”) instructional coaching—not just monitoring or data collection that we misbrand as “coaching”
• Use appropriate and available technologies to provide ongoing support
• Shift PD away from workshops to more support-based interventions—modelling, coaching, observations and feedback
• Strengthen school leadership so that head teachers and directors can provide ongoing support.

Recommendation 5: Invest in high-quality teacher educators

Teacher educators or teacher trainers, in- or pre-service, are often the weakest link in the teacher education ecosystem. Implementing agencies eagerly inventory the shortcomings associated with many teacher training colleges and ministry of Education-run in-service providers.

But implementing agencies deserve their share of blame when it comes to unqualified teacher trainers. As noted in other posts , many implementing agencies entrust professional development in critical areas such as literacy or numeracy to people who have never been teachers —or whose sole experience teaching may be confined to a year in the Peace Corps.

Imagine for a moment a person who has never performed surgery “training” a group of surgeons or someone who’s never flown a plane telling commercial pilots how to do their job. Therein summarizes one of the great weakness in donor-funded teacher professional development (See again Recommendation 2).

Teacher educators need the same skills as teachers—among these are deep content knowledge; different models of instructional strategies and assessment practices; learning and development of children and adults; clinical and supervision skills; the ability to model effective instructional and assessment practices; the ability and disposition to coach and support teachers and hold planned or informal meetings with teachers; and the ability to support teachers through observations, feedback, modeling, workshops, coaching, and/or planned/informal meetings (Cordingley et al., 2007).  

To ensure those who are employed to advance teaching are effective in their work, the guide proposes the following:

• Recruit professional development providers with extensive teaching experience
• Strengthen teacher-professional development provider capacity
• For areas with no teacher educators offer audio/radio instruction, or didactic materials, and draw on skilled community members and other teachers to provide instruction in key areas.

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Recommendation 6: Build instructional leadership at all levels of the educational system

School directors are second only to teachers as the most important school-level determinant of student achievement (Leithwood et al. 2004).  They are responsible for the quality of teaching and learning in their schools. Yet too often we see poor instructional school leadership holding back teaching and learning.

Schools in disadvantaged areas benefit tremendously when their lead learners, the head teacher and the school director, ensure that teachers are in their classrooms every day, covering the syllabus at an appropriate pace, instructing students in developmentally appropriate and engaging ways, and attempting to apply to their classes the knowledge and skills gained through professional development activities.  

For this to happen, as the INEE guide notes, the following must happen:

• Help Ministries of Education establish and implement instructional competencies for head teachers and school directors
• Promote collaboration among head teachers and among school directors
• Ensure practical professional development opportunities for head teachers and school directors. 

Recommendation 7: Use Information and Communication technology (ICT) to provide access to content, professional development and professional learning communities  

Technology —radio, mobile phones, TV and the Internet—can offer teachers, even in low-resource environments, access to content, to curriculum, colleagues and a variety of learning experiences.

Technology, if part of an overall system focused on instructional improvement, can help reduce costs, increase impact, and offer information/skill development in previously unavailable forms. 

To support the wise application of ICT the guide proposes three priority actions:

• Offer audio-learning to support teacher development in and with particularly difficult-to reach areas and populations
• Promote the use of video for teacher self-study and to share models of intended practice
• Provide teachers with access to teaching and learning resources through open content and help them integrate this content into their instruction.

Poor and ineffective professional development hurts teachers. It hurts their students. It hurts their community and, since quality education is so highly correlated with economic growth, it hurts their nation.

While the above broad recommendations do not address all the intricacies of teacher professional development in fragile contexts, we hope that the INEE guide can jumpstart serious conversations about promoting the quality of  professional development where it’s needed most—in the poorest and most fragile contexts of the globe.

Please consult the INEE guide for all references used in this post.

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Practical and concret experience need to be emphasised. This will promote inlusive classroom instruction.

An international network of educators is working on these issues as they are complex see www.meshguides.org .

The seven recommendations for teacher preparation outline appropriate measures to ensure teachers have the skills to provide quality education. It is important to consider the guidelines for all levels of education, from early childhood to adult education. As has been duly noted, education is a great equalizer but it is only as good as the educators themselves.

Recommendation 2 regarding the development of standards is complicated and viewed by some as meddling by government and oversight committees. However, standards can set the stage for minimal competencies that must be exhibited by teachers across all settings. The development of standards must take into consideration the cultures and conditions of the member countries. They must be developed in a way that honors the people they are intended to support. As has been seen in the U.S., standards can create a situation in which education is more about the outcomes than it is about learners and teachers.

Recommendations 3 and 4 are critically important to the success of teachers. All educators need support and opportunities to collaborate with other teachers. Support in the form of coaching and mentoring has been shown to improve praxis and help teachers to continue to grow as professionals. However, it is extremely important that coaches and mentors also have appropriate training and professional development. Otherwise, the support they offer can be counter-active.

Recommendation 5 regarding high-quality teacher educators is also highly important. As demonstrated in the article, a teacher educator who has never worn the shoes of teacher cannot possibly educate teachers effectively. This is a lofty goal considering the variation in educational settings globally. It is important for countries to grow their existing pool of qualified teacher educators by providing training and professional development that encourages teachers to consider the value of sharing their own experiences and knowledge with those who desire a career as teachers.

good article gives insight to what education bodies around the world especially in 3rd world countries should be focusing on

Really interesting article. Thanks to the author of https://www.globalpartnership.org

Very informative and value-laden experiences that need to be addressed!

Two sides of a coin cannot hold together if there is no binding edge of the coin. In like manner, quality teaching and quality learning fall off when there is no professional development for, not of not by, teachers. Count on me in all you do. I'm a Professor of Educational management.

Manager coaching shouldn't be used just to make you feel better about your job — it should be intended to actually improve your performance and effectiveness.

These are very coherent facts that are affecting the quality of education especially in my nation Kenya.We need people who are up to the task for an action to be taken for improvement

Thanks for sharing such blogs. You have explained everything in a good manner. I really like game based learning, I think it is the best way to grab the skills very easily and fast. Moreover, online tutorials and apps like iAspire also play an important role to improve the teacher professional development.

An excellent read

It is an interesting and helpful article, thanks a lot.

This a very helpful piece of writing. Thank you

thank you the content provided was helpful

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| | --> by Susan Verner 29,952 views She uses a variety of assessment methods: tests, interviews, homework, and direct observations to name a few. But the best teachers don’t limit their . Self-assessment for teachers can mean the difference between great and stellar performance. But self-assessment is foreign for those who are usually focused on student assessment. Where does the interested teacher start? It’s not like teachers can give themselves tests on the effectiveness of their teaching. But by making some key and simple observations, you can gain even more information than the choice between a, b, c, or d could tell you. After each lesson, activity or event, take a few minutes to ask yourself some questions and take notes on your answers. When you are evaluating what happened in your classroom, make sure you are focusing on both the good and the bad results. Both have benefits. When you analyze something that didn’t work, you can make sure you do not repeat your mistakes. When you analyze something that did work, you will be able to recreate the circumstances that made the activity successful. When we take an honest look at our teaching, the good and the bad, the successes and the failures, we learn where our strengths and weaknesses lie. Sometimes, we evaluate or assignments. When we do, we plan better and have higher quality activities to direct our students the next time through. Sometimes, though, assessment can give an even broader perspective. We begin to see where our teaching strengths and weaknesses lie. We may find areas where we need further training or where our teaching biases lie. Becoming aware of these needs then allows us to meet them through different types of professional development. As a result, we become better overall teachers and everyone benefits. After completing a class activity or classroom unit, simply ask yourself three questions. First, ask yourself about the good stuff. What worked? What was fun, successful or productive? What would you do again? Make a list of your thoughts on a sheet of paper. These are the activities or types of activities you should repeat. On a second sheet, look at the bad stuff. What didn’t work? What was a flop or too difficult? What would you not do again? These are the types of activities you want to eliminate from your plans in the future. Finally, make a third list of the ugly stuff, that is, the things that need improvement. What could have worked if you had made some changes? What could you have tweaked to make more successful? What almost worked? Which activities have potential with a little more work and planning? These are the activities that you should include in the future after you have made improvements to them. It’s a little more detailed than the good, bad and ugly analysis. Your post activity evaluation will be focused with four simple questions. For this type of evaluation, think back to all the things that happened in class and make a numbered or bulleted list. happened? Remember to focus on both the good and the bad. Once you have your list of events, look at each of them in more detail. For each, ask yourself was involved. Ask yourself it happened. And then attempt to determine each of those things happened. When you answer these questions, you will begin to see what worked and didn’t work in class. You will know what types of events you want to try to recreate and others that you want to avoid. Then, once you have finished evaluating each event, you will know whether you need to include this activity or type of activity in the future, whether you need to make some changes to that activity, or whether you need to eliminate that activity altogether. You will see areas of your teaching or classroom activities that are consistently strong. In addition, you will see areas of your teaching or classroom activities that are consistently weaker. Once you start noticing these patterns, these are the areas in which you should seek professional development. Do you struggle with incorporating communicative activities in class? Find a book or read some articles for advice. Do you have trouble explaining to your students? Ask a fellow teacher for tips on how to make the abstract more concrete or take a refresher course yourself. Are you failing to cover the amount of material you need to by the end of the year? Or are your students in the habit of misbehaving? Maybe it’s time to get some training on classroom management or time management. For teachers, it can be tempting to do the same activities over and over again, and a teaching rut can be hard to get out of once you’re in it. By regularly spending a few minutes reflecting, evaluating, and assessing what you have done in class, you can become a better teacher and one who is always getting better. If you enjoyed this article, please help spread it by clicking one of those sharing buttons below. And if you are interested in more, you should follow our Facebook page where we share more about creative, non-boring ways to teach English. . That's 4,036 pages filled with thousands of practical activities and tips that you can start using today. 30-day money back guarantee. --> Copyright 2007-2021 пїЅ Submit a worksheet Mobile version Classroom Q&A With larry ferlazzo. In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog. Four Strategies for Effective Writing Instruction Share article (This is the first post in a two-part series.) The new question-of-the-week is: What is the single most effective instructional strategy you have used to teach writing? Teaching and learning good writing can be a challenge to educators and students alike. The topic is no stranger to this column—you can see many previous related posts at Writing Instruction . But I don’t think any of us can get too much good instructional advice in this area. Today, Jenny Vo, Michele Morgan, and Joy Hamm share wisdom gained from their teaching experience. Before I turn over the column to them, though, I’d like to share my favorite tool(s). Graphic organizers, including writing frames (which are basically more expansive sentence starters) and writing structures (which function more as guides and less as “fill-in-the-blanks”) are critical elements of my writing instruction. You can see an example of how I incorporate them in my seven-week story-writing unit and in the adaptations I made in it for concurrent teaching. You might also be interested in The Best Scaffolded Writing Frames For Students . Now, to today’s guests: ‘Shared Writing’ Jenny Vo earned her B.A. in English from Rice University and her M.Ed. in educational leadership from Lamar University. She has worked with English-learners during all of her 24 years in education and is currently an ESL ISST in Katy ISD in Katy, Texas. Jenny is the president-elect of TexTESOL IV and works to advocate for all ELs: The single most effective instructional strategy that I have used to teach writing is shared writing. Shared writing is when the teacher and students write collaboratively. In shared writing, the teacher is the primary holder of the pen, even though the process is a collaborative one. The teacher serves as the scribe, while also questioning and prompting the students. The students engage in discussions with the teacher and their peers on what should be included in the text. Shared writing can be done with the whole class or as a small-group activity. There are two reasons why I love using shared writing. One, it is a great opportunity for the teacher to model the structures and functions of different types of writing while also weaving in lessons on spelling, punctuation, and grammar. It is a perfect activity to do at the beginning of the unit for a new genre. Use shared writing to introduce the students to the purpose of the genre. Model the writing process from beginning to end, taking the students from idea generation to planning to drafting to revising to publishing. As you are writing, make sure you refrain from making errors, as you want your finished product to serve as a high-quality model for the students to refer back to as they write independently. Another reason why I love using shared writing is that it connects the writing process with oral language. As the students co-construct the writing piece with the teacher, they are orally expressing their ideas and listening to the ideas of their classmates. It gives them the opportunity to practice rehearsing what they are going to say before it is written down on paper. Shared writing gives the teacher many opportunities to encourage their quieter or more reluctant students to engage in the discussion with the types of questions the teacher asks. Writing well is a skill that is developed over time with much practice. Shared writing allows students to engage in the writing process while observing the construction of a high-quality sample. It is a very effective instructional strategy used to teach writing. ‘Four Square’ Michele Morgan has been writing IEPs and behavior plans to help students be more successful for 17 years. She is a national-board-certified teacher, Utah Teacher Fellow with Hope Street Group, and a special education elementary new-teacher specialist with the Granite school district. Follow her @MicheleTMorgan1: For many students, writing is the most dreaded part of the school day. Writing involves many complex processes that students have to engage in before they produce a product—they must determine what they will write about, they must organize their thoughts into a logical sequence, and they must do the actual writing, whether on a computer or by hand. Still they are not done—they must edit their writing and revise mistakes. With all of that, it’s no wonder that students struggle with writing assignments. In my years working with elementary special education students, I have found that writing is the most difficult subject to teach. Not only do my students struggle with the writing process, but they often have the added difficulties of not knowing how to spell words and not understanding how to use punctuation correctly. That is why the single most effective strategy I use when teaching writing is the Four Square graphic organizer. The Four Square instructional strategy was developed in 1999 by Judith S. Gould and Evan Jay Gould. When I first started teaching, a colleague allowed me to borrow the Goulds’ book about using the Four Square method, and I have used it ever since. The Four Square is a graphic organizer that students can make themselves when given a blank sheet of paper. They fold it into four squares and draw a box in the middle of the page. The genius of this instructional strategy is that it can be used by any student, in any grade level, for any writing assignment. These are some of the ways I have used this strategy successfully with my students: * Writing sentences: Students can write the topic for the sentence in the middle box, and in each square, they can draw pictures of details they want to add to their writing. * Writing paragraphs: Students write the topic sentence in the middle box. They write a sentence containing a supporting detail in three of the squares and they write a concluding sentence in the last square. * Writing short essays: Students write what information goes in the topic paragraph in the middle box, then list details to include in supporting paragraphs in the squares. When I gave students writing assignments, the first thing I had them do was create a Four Square. We did this so often that it became automatic. After filling in the Four Square, they wrote rough drafts by copying their work off of the graphic organizer and into the correct format, either on lined paper or in a Word document. This worked for all of my special education students! I was able to modify tasks using the Four Square so that all of my students could participate, regardless of their disabilities. Even if they did not know what to write about, they knew how to start the assignment (which is often the hardest part of getting it done!) and they grew to be more confident in their writing abilities. In addition, when it was time to take the high-stakes state writing tests at the end of the year, this was a strategy my students could use to help them do well on the tests. I was able to give them a sheet of blank paper, and they knew what to do with it. I have used many different curriculum materials and programs to teach writing in the last 16 years, but the Four Square is the one strategy that I have used with every writing assignment, no matter the grade level, because it is so effective. ‘Swift Structures’ Joy Hamm has taught 11 years in a variety of English-language settings, ranging from kindergarten to adult learners. The last few years working with middle and high school Newcomers and completing her M.Ed in TESOL have fostered stronger advocacy in her district and beyond: A majority of secondary content assessments include open-ended essay questions. Many students falter (not just ELs) because they are unaware of how to quickly organize their thoughts into a cohesive argument. In fact, the WIDA CAN DO Descriptors list level 5 writing proficiency as “organizing details logically and cohesively.” Thus, the most effective cross-curricular secondary writing strategy I use with my intermediate LTELs (long-term English-learners) is what I call “Swift Structures.” This term simply means reading a prompt across any content area and quickly jotting down an outline to organize a strong response. To implement Swift Structures, begin by displaying a prompt and modeling how to swiftly create a bubble map or outline beginning with a thesis/opinion, then connecting the three main topics, which are each supported by at least three details. Emphasize this is NOT the time for complete sentences, just bulleted words or phrases. Once the outline is completed, show your ELs how easy it is to plug in transitions, expand the bullets into detailed sentences, and add a brief introduction and conclusion. After modeling and guided practice, set a 5-10 minute timer and have students practice independently. Swift Structures is one of my weekly bell ringers, so students build confidence and skill over time. It is best to start with easy prompts where students have preformed opinions and knowledge in order to focus their attention on the thesis-topics-supporting-details outline, not struggling with the rigor of a content prompt. Here is one easy prompt example: “Should students be allowed to use their cellphones in class?” Swift Structure outline: Thesis - Students should be allowed to use cellphones because (1) higher engagement (2) learning tools/apps (3) gain 21st-century skills Topic 1. Cellphones create higher engagement in students... Details A. interactive (Flipgrid, Kahoot) B. less tempted by distractions C. teaches responsibility Topic 2. Furthermore,...access to learning tools... A. Google Translate description B. language practice (Duolingo) C. content tutorials (Kahn Academy) Topic 3. In addition,...practice 21st-century skills… Details A. prep for workforce B. access to information C. time-management support This bare-bones outline is like the frame of a house. Get the structure right, and it’s easier to fill in the interior decorating (style, grammar), roof (introduction) and driveway (conclusion). Without the frame, the roof and walls will fall apart, and the reader is left confused by circuitous rubble. Once LTELs have mastered creating simple Swift Structures in less than 10 minutes, it is time to introduce complex questions similar to prompts found on content assessments or essays. Students need to gain assurance that they can quickly and logically explain and justify their opinions on multiple content essays without freezing under pressure. Thanks to Jenny, Michele, and Joy for their contributions! Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post. Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind. You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo . Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It’s titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching . Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email (The RSS feed for this blog, and for all Ed Week articles, has been changed by the new redesign—new ones are not yet available). And if you missed any of the highlights from the first nine years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below. 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It's a one to two page narrative that conveys your core ideas about being an effective teacher in the context of your discipline. It develops these ideas with specific, concrete examples of what the teacher and learners will do to achieve those goals. Importantly, your teaching philosophy statement also explains why you choose these options. + Getting Started Your reasons for writing a teaching philosophy may vary. You might be writing it as an exercise in concisely documenting your beliefs so that you can easily articulate them to your students, peers, or a search committee. It might serve as the introduction to your teaching portfolio. Or, it can serve as a means of professional growth as it requires you to give examples of how you enact your philosophy, thus requiring you to consider the degree to which your teaching is congruent with your beliefs. Generating ideas Teaching philosophies express your values and beliefs about teaching. They are personal statements that introduce you, as a teacher, to your reader. As such, they are written in the first person and convey a confident, professional tone. When writing a teaching philosophy, use specific examples to illustrate your points. You should also discuss how your values and beliefs about teaching fit into the context of your discipline. Below are categories you might address with prompts to help you begin generating ideas. Work through each category, spending time thinking about the prompts and writing your ideas down. These notes will comprise the material you’ll use to write the first draft of your teaching philosophy statement. It will help if you include both general ideas (‘I endeavor to create lifelong learners’) as well as specifics about how you will enact those goals. A teaching philosophy template is also available to help you get started. Questions to prompt your thinking Your concept of learning. What do you mean by learning? What happens in a successful learning situation? Note what constitutes "learning" or "mastery" in your discipline. Your concept of teaching What are your values, beliefs, and aspirations as a teacher? Do you wish to encourage mastery, competency, transformational learning, lifelong learning, general transference of skills, critical thinking? What does a perfect teaching situation look like to you and why? How are the values and beliefs realized in classroom activities? You may discuss course materials, lesson plans, activities, assignments, and assessment instruments. Your goals for students What skills should students obtain as a result of your teaching? Think about your ideal student and what the outcomes of your teaching would be in terms of this student's knowledge or behavior. Address the goals you have for specific classes or curricula and that rational behind them (i.e., critical thinking, writing, or problem solving). Your teaching methods What methods will you consider to reach these goals and objectives? What are your beliefs regarding learning theory and specific strategies you would use, such as case studies, group work, simulations, interactive lectures? You might also want to include any new ideas or strategies you want to try. Your interaction with students What are you attitudes towards advising and mentoring students? How would an observer see you interact with students? Why do you want to work with students? Assessing learning How will you assess student growth and learning? What are your beliefs about grading? Do you grade students on a percentage scale (criterion referenced) or on a curve (norm referenced)? What different types of assessment will you use (i.e. traditional tests, projects, portfolios,  presentations) and why? Professional growth How will you continue growing as a teacher? What goals do you have for yourself and how will you reach them? How have your attitudes towards teaching and learning changed over time? How will you use student evaluations to improve your teaching? How might you learn new skills? How do you know when you've taught effectively? + Creating a Draft Two ways of organizing your draft. Now that you've written down your values, attitudes, and beliefs about teaching and learning, it's time to organize those thoughts into a coherent form. Perhaps the easiest way of organizing this material would be to write a paragraph covering each of the seven prompts you answered in the Getting Started section. These would then become the seven major sections of your teaching philosophy. Another way of knitting your reflections together—and one that is more personal—is to read through your notes and underscore ideas or observations that come up more than once. Think of these as "themes" that might point you toward an organizational structure for the essay. For example, you read through your notes and realize that you spend a good deal of time writing about your interest in mentoring students. This might become one of the three or four major foci of your teaching philosophy. You should then discuss what it says about your attitudes toward teaching, learning, and what's important in your discipline. No matter which style you choose, make sure to keep your writing succinct. Aim for two double-spaced pages. And don't forget to start with a "hook." Your job is to make your readers want to read more; their level of engagement is highest when they read your opening line. Hook your readers by beginning with a question, a statement, or even an event from your past. Using specific examples Remember to provide concrete examples from your teaching practice to illustrate the general claims you make in your teaching philosophy. The following general statements about teaching are intended as prompts to help you come up with examples to illustrate your claims about teaching. For each statement, how would you describe what happens in your classroom? Is your description specific enough to bring the scene to life in a teaching philosophy? "I value helping my students understand difficult information. I am an expert, and my role is to model for them complex ways of thinking so that they can develop the same habits of mind as professionals in the medical field." "I enjoy lecturing, and I'm good at it. I always make an effort to engage and motivate my students when I lecture." "It is crucial for students of geology to learn the techniques of field research. An important part of my job as a professor of geology is to provide these opportunities." "I believe that beginning physics students should be introduced to the principles of hypothesis generation, experimentation, data collection, and analysis. By learning the scientific method, they develop critical thinking skills they can apply to other areas of their lives. Small group work is a crucial tool for teaching the scientific method." "As a teacher of writing, I am committed to using peer review in my classes. By reading and commenting on other students' work in small cooperative groups, my students learn to find their voice, to understand the important connection between writer and audience, and to hone their editing skills. Small group work is indispensible in the writing classroom." Go back to the notes you made when getting started and underline the general statements you’ve made about teaching and learning. As you start drafting, make sure to note the specific approaches, methods, or products you use to realize those goals. + Assessing Your Draft Assessing your draft teaching philosophy. According to a survey of search committee chairs by the University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, there are five elements that are shared by strong teaching philosophy statements: They offer evidence of practice (specific examples) They are student-centered They demonstrate reflectiveness They demonstrate that the writer values teaching They are well written, clear, and readable Now that you’ve completed an initial draft, ask whether your statement captures these elements and how well you articulate them. You might find it useful to compare your draft to other teaching philosophies in your discipline. It can also be useful to have a colleague review your draft and offer recommendations for revision. Consider printing out a teaching philosophy rubric from our “Rubrics and Samples” tab to provide your reviewer with guidelines to assess your draft. These exercises will give you the critical distance necessary to see your teaching philosophy objectively and revise it accordingly. + Rubrics and Samples Rubrics and sample teaching philosophies. Here are links to three teaching philosophy rubrics to help you assess your statement. We have included four different rubrics for you to choose from. These rubrics cover similar elements, and one is not necessarily better than the other. Your choice of which to use should be guided by how comfortable you feel with the particular instrument and how usable you find it.  Teaching Philosophy Rubric 1   This rubric allows a reader to rate several elements of persuasiveness and format on a scale of 1 to 5. Teaching Philosophy Rubric 2   This rubric contains prompts for assessing purpose and audience, voice, beliefs and support, and conventions. Teaching Philosophy Rubric 3   This rubric contains prompts for assessing content, format, and writing quality. Rubric for Statements of Teaching Philosophy  This rubric was developed by Kaplan et. al. from the University of Michigan. Marisol Brito – philosophy  Benjamin Harrison – biology   Jamie Peterson – psychology The University of Michigan has a wide variety of  samples  organized by field of study. Caroline Hilk Why Use Active Learning? Successful Active Learning Implementation Addressing Active Learning Challenges Research and Resources Addressing Challenges Course Planning Align Assessments Multiple Low Stakes Assessments Authentic Assessments Formative and Summative Assessments Varied Forms of Assessments Cumulative Assessments Equitable Assessments Essay Exams Multiple Choice Exams and Quizzes Academic Paper Skill Observation Alternative Assessments Assessment Plan Grade Assessments Prepare Students Reduce Student Anxiety SRT Scores: Interpreting & Responding Student Feedback Question Prompts Definitions and PWI Focus A Flexible Framework Class Climate Course Content An Ongoing Endeavor Working memory Retrieval of information Spaced practice Active learning Metacognition Research Questions and Design Gathering data Publication Learn About Your Context Design Your Course to Support Challenging Conversations Design Your Challenging Conversations Class Session Use Effective Facilitation Strategies What to Do in a Challenging Moment Debrief and Reflect On Your Experience, and Try, Try Again Supplemental Resources Why Use Team Projects? Project Description Examples Project Description for Students Team Projects and Student Development Outcomes Forming Teams Team Output Individual Contributions to the Team Individual Student Understanding Supporting Students Wrapping up the Project GRAD 8101: Teaching in Higher Education Finding a Practicum Mentor GRAD 8200: Teaching for Learning Proficiency Rating & TA Eligibility Schedule a SETTA TAPD Webinars Basics for GSIs Advancing Your Skills Five Ways to Improve Your Teaching by Linda von Hoene Becoming an effective teacher involves seeking out multiple sites of input that can enable you to reflect on and improve the teaching and learning that takes place in your class. This section is designed to provide you with some suggestions about sources for dialogue and methods of feedback. All materials cited are available at the GSI Teaching & Resource Center, 301 Sproul Hall. Dialogue with Yourself through a Teaching Log Solicit Feedback from Your Students Dialogue with Faculty Dialogue with Peers Seek Outside Consultation Dialogue with Yourself through a Teaching Log One very important, but often overlooked, source of input on teaching is you, the teacher. A first step that can form the foundation for other critical reflection is to keep a daily teaching log or journal on your teaching. Start by writing your lesson plan on the right-hand side of your teaching notebook and reserving the left-hand side for comments and reflection. Questions to ask yourself and reflect on in writing might include, What worked well in this class, and why? What didn’t, and why? Where did the students seem to have difficulties? Were there any noticeable points where the students seemed very engaged with the material? What types of things may need greater clarification the next time? Were there any particular pedagogical strategies that seemed to work well? What will I change the next time I teach this topic? In addition to informing your teaching on an ongoing basis, the reflection fostered by keeping a teaching log will greatly assist you in writing up a statement of teaching philosophy for your teaching portfolio. For further information on how to keep a teaching log, see: Brookfield, Stephen (1995). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 72–75. For more information about the teaching portfolio, see: Seldin, Peter (2010). The Teaching Portfolio , 4th ed. San Francisco: Wiley. Solicit Feedback from Your Students More often than not, we reflect on (or worry about!) our teaching in isolation, without realizing that our own students can be a great source of feedback on the teaching and learning that takes place in our classrooms on a day-to-day basis. While end-of-semester evaluations tend to summarize the students’ overall responses to the class, this type of input comes too late to be of use to you and your students during the current semester. There are several techniques you can use to solicit ongoing feedback from your students on the class in general or the learning that takes place around specific topics and activities. After the first couple of weeks of class, ask students to take out a piece of paper and write down three things that have helped their learning in the class and, on the other side of the paper, three things the students would like to change about the class to improve their experience. After reviewing their responses, decide what you can and will change and what you either cannot change or find pedagogically unwise to change. You can also let the students know what you will be changing based on their suggestions. This type of informal feedback can be gathered at different points over the semester. Classroom Assessment Techniques (CAT)  enable you to get feedback about the learning that has transpired in a particular class period or after a specific activity. Perhaps the most commonly used CAT is the “one-minute paper,” in which students are asked to write down answers to questions such as the following, “What was the most important thing you learned during this class?” and “What questions do you still have on this topic?” This type of technique enables you to find out how the students are processing and synthesizing material as well as which points need to be reiterated or elaborated before going on. For an excellent discussion of various classroom assessment techniques, see the groundbreaking work: Angelo, Thomas A. and K. Patricia Cross (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques , 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. (Sample CATs can be found online.) Dialogue with Faculty The degree of dialogue between GSIs and faculty about teaching varies from department to department and from course to course. Many faculty teaching courses with GSIs hold weekly meetings. These meetings should cover not only course logistics, but also pedagogical strategies for teaching sections. (Please see the  Graduate Council’s Policy on Appointments and Mentoring of GSIs .) You should also arrange for the professor you are teaching with to observe your class. This formative classroom observation should not be a “critique” of your teaching, but a mutual exchange of ideas, in which both parties discuss teaching goals, practices, and strategies for improvement. We strongly suggest that faculty and GSIs use a tripartite structure for observations , which includes a pre-observation discussion, a class visit, and a post-observation discussion. In the pre-observation meeting, you should discuss how the class is going; what you will be teaching and what pedagogical techniques you will be using; your goals for the class period and what you would like the students to take away from the class; and which areas of your teaching you would like feedback on. After the class visit, you should meet with the professor to discuss the class and to set goals for those areas of your teaching that need improvement. For a concise description of these techniques, see: Wilkerson, LuAnn (1988). “Classroom Observation: The Observer as Collaborator.” In POD: A Handbook for New Practitioners . Professional & Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: 95–98. For additional articles on classroom observation, see: Lewis, Karron, ed. (1988). Face to Face: A Sourcebook of Individual Consultation Techniques for Faculty/Instructional Developers . Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. Dialogue with Peers One of your greatest resources for reflecting on and improving your teaching is your peers. GSIs teaching sections of the same course should meet weekly with faculty to discuss ideas about how to teach specific topics, and to exchange materials, resources, and suggestions on how to promote a stimulating learning environment in the classroom. GSIs are also encouraged to pair up with a peer to do classroom observations. Many GSls who have visited each other’s classes have reported that observations and dialogues emanating from this type of peer collaboration provide them with an invaluable opportunity to learn from the teaching styles and techniques of other GSIs. Peer observations should follow the same procedures as those recommended above for faculty observation of GSIs. GSls can also exchange ideas with peers in departmental 300-level pedagogy seminars, at informal gatherings within their departments, and across disciplinary and department borders at the GSI Teaching & Resource Center. Seek Outside Consultation Staff at the GSI Teaching & Resource Center provide confidential individual consultation for GSIs . Consultants assist GSIs in developing specific teaching strategies, reviewing feedback received from students, and finding ways to improve teaching and learning. Consultants are also available to conduct classroom observations and video-recording, together with preparatory and follow-up discussions when these programs are not available in the department. Video-recording is an effective tool for reflecting on teaching, as it enables GSIs to see themselves in action and to develop strategies, in dialogue with a consultant, on how to improve teaching. Please arrange for observations and recording at least two weeks in advance. Articles GSls may wish to read in conjunction with video-recording include: Taylor-Way, David (1988). “Consultation Through Video: Memory Management Through Stimulated Recall.” In Face to Face . Ed. Karron Lewis. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press, 159–91. Davis, Barbara Gross (2009). “Watching Yourself on Videotape.” In Tools for Teaching , 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. How to be a better teacher - tips and tricks to help you improve Great teachers don’t only put a lot of work into their lessons and materials, they also constantly reflect on their lessons, objectives, and goals. Changing nothing and sticking with what you know won’t make you a better teacher. All good teachers know that learning doesn’t stop when you graduate college.  If you haven’t taken the test yet to find out if you are the best teacher ever, click here. Otherwise, dive right in and read our 8 tips to help you become a better teacher! Be fluent and confident in the language/subject you teach Know your students: Their names, background, interests, learning style Be passionate about the subject you teach Be reachable for your students and give them a chance to connect with you Ask for student feedback Share ideas with colleagues and collaborate Be aware of your students' progress/strengths/weaknesses Personalize learning 1. Be fluent and confident in the language/subject you teach Before you can teach a language (or any other subject for that matter), you should have mastered it yourself. Only then do you truly KNOW what your students are struggling with. Chances are if you had trouble learning the adjective endings in German (I am still having a hard time teaching that concept!), so will your students. Being a teacher comes with the unspoken rule of always continuing your own education while you teach others as well. The more you know, the more you can pass on to your students. There are many apps, programs, and websites out there to continue learning. If that’s too passive and you need something to hold you accountable, consider signing up for continuing education classes at online or local universities. Your district might also offer professional development opportunities or pay (partially) for any classes you take. Subscribing to education newsletters or reading the latest articles and publications in your subject area are all ways to keep up with the newest developments and become fluent in the subject matter. 2. Know your students: Their names, background, interests, learning style No worries if you don’t right now. There is always time to catch up and find out what matters to them. Here are some ideas to get to know your students better: - Have your students (and/or their parents) fill out a short survey about themselves:  Interests, siblings, favorite food, favorite book/show, names of family members, languages they speak, who they live with, etc. ( Click here to download my questionnaire for free ) - Reserve 10 minutes each Friday (or any other day) for the “Student of the Week” to share information about him/herself. They can bring in pictures, create a PowerPoint or poster, or bring in a favorite item or food to share. And don't worry. Even adult learners will love this activity! It's a great way to get to know one another and also to practice speaking in a foreign language while presenting in front of others. - Determine what type of learner they are by checking out this blog post and taking a moment to observe your students. Who is really engaged during games and projects? Who is always raising her hand to participate? Who does great on tests and written assignments but is quiet in class?  The more you know about your students, the easier it will be to connect to them and understand their struggles. It will also allow you to tailor support to individual needs and include the families in such attempts. Finally, it will also make your students feel welcome, and cared for, and let them know that they matter to you.  3. Be passionate about the subject you teach Being a teacher is more than just a profession, it's often a way of life. So you should truly love what you do every day. Did you start out being excited, passionate, and motivated but are now feeling overwhelmed and tired instead? While not all teachers experience this loss in passion, the ones that do usually blame it on factors like these:  - administration - student behavior - parental requests  - ever-changing policies in education Trying to figure out what you are struggling with is the first step. Then, try to find more information about staying positive and regaining your passion in those areas. Take the ever-changing policies, for example. While you can’t ignore them and have to adhere to them in your teaching, that doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to personalize learning or have fun in your classroom. Keep the projects and lessons you love and morph them to fit the new standards instead of throwing them out the window and starting from scratch. When you are passionate about something, your students will learn a lot more. So be creative in finding a way to incorporate your passions and interests into your daily lessons. Keep having fun! 4. Be reachable for your students and give them a chance to connect with you Trust me, I know how exhausting it can be to be a teacher. And sometimes (or most times) all you want at the end of the school day is to be alone. You spend so much time with these learners (more than the average parent does with their own children!). You might not feel up to being available for one-on-one conversations. And that's okay. But try thinking about a time DURING your school day that you can be available for students who need help or simply want to tell you about their day.  - Give out prizes for a "Lunch with Mrs. Haase" to students who are doing great or who you see would benefit from a personal check-in - Have a "What Mrs. Haase needs to know" jar on your desk. Students can leave notes in private that you can read when you have a moment. This helps you know what is going on, the students feel heard, and you have the chance to follow up with individuals when necessary.  - Join your students on the playground and take a walk together. Especially the more introverted students might open up during that time because it's informal and you aren't staring at each other. - Share your email address or phone number (if you are comfortable) with students who struggle, or find a time during independent work to check in with them. 5. Ask for student feedback Ask students for honest feedback! It's scary, I know. In my first semester of teaching, I knew I didn't do the greatest job. I was so nervous about sending out a survey and asking for student feedback. But, it helped me grow, and not everything was bad! Students are usually pretty nice, and while they are honest, they also like to share positive feedback. You can create a simple survey online , or ask your students to leave a note in a jar at the end of class.  I like to ask questions such as: What do you enjoy most in my class? Your favorite lesson was on…. I should teach a lesson on….in the future. If there was one thing you could change in my class it would be…. What is something you’d like to try in class? The tests and quizzes in class are easy/okay/ just right/too hard 6. Share ideas with colleagues and collaborate Not everyone has colleagues who teach the same language, or you might not particularly like the people in your department. Luckily, we live in a world full of online forums and groups. You don't have to work directly with the people around you. (But, you should try. It will make your life a lot easier and might save you time if you can agree to exchange ideas and materials.) There are many communities out there that focus on languages, specific textbooks or series, or the technology you use in your classroom. And sharing ideas and asking questions there might inspire you to change something up in your classroom as well.  For language teachers, ACTFL, AATG, ATTSP, NEA, etc. are great communities to find educators to collaborate with. Facebook has many groups such as “Teach with Tech.” Twitter has hashtags to subscribe to, and you can probably find a wonderful teacher to follow on Instagram as well. 7. Be aware of your students' progress/strengths/weaknesses This one is tricky when you don't use any kind of technology in your classroom. It involves a lot of work to calculate grades, figure out student progress, and compare different areas of learning. But it's possible. Better yet: Find a tool that can simplify this reporting for you. AI can be used in many ways to help and aid language teachers specifically. Programs such as SmartClass have specific reporting tools that let you compare student progress and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. And not only that: It also helps you as a teacher. Are all your students struggling with the same exercise? It's a great way to know which topics to repeat or which lessons to improve so that students succeed in the future. 8. Personalize learning This is a tough one, so if you answered "no" here, a lot of your colleagues are right there with you. It's hard to personalize learning when you have five classes of 28 to 40 students! And even for the lucky teachers amongst us that have smaller classes, it still feels like a second full-time job to personalize learning for students. You might want to start with your lower-level students to see what you can do to help them keep up -- additional practice, review videos, partnering with a high-performing student, or finding them a tutor. I know it's not always fair to focus on those who struggle only. Our high-performing kids would benefit from some extra challenges and practice as well! Online teaching platforms such as SmartClass are a great way to make this personalization possible. Being able to create folders with activities for different levels in addition to pre-existing activities for everyone is a dream come true for any language teacher who also enjoys auto-graded activities and wants to incorporate more meaningful speaking and listening into their daily lessons.  No matter how you feel about your own proficiency and skills as a language teacher, there is probably something you can improve. Learning never stops, especially for us teachers. While you don’t (and can’t) work on everything at the same time, simply choose something you think you can easily improve and start there. Reach out to a colleague to ask for help, go online to find a new strategy you can try with your students, or attend a professional development opportunity or conference to connect with other language teachers to find out more about the latest trends in foreign language teaching. Related Articles Language Lab: What it is and how it will improve your students' output A language lab is an environment that enables all students to practice their listening and speaking... Impressed parents, happy teachers, engaged students with SmartClass Investing in cutting-edge language teaching technology not only benefits students but also... SmartClass Content: Start teaching languages in an innovative way Teaching a foreign language is not an easy task, and it can be especially challenging when it comes... Professional Development of Teachers’ Skills Words: 947 Colleges of Education Preparation of Future Teachers Words: 1110 Book Clubs: Professional Development Among Teachers Words: 2801 The Teacher and School Responsibility Issues Words: 1685 Funds of Knowledge, the Book for Teachers Words: 689 How to Attract the Best Teachers into Teaching Words: 840 Teachers Expectation and Pupil Learning Words: 1134 Important Concepts of Teacher Professional Development Words: 582 Study Method Preferences in Teachers and Students Words: 1725 Common Currency for Teachers and Students Words: 844 Teachers’ Practical Theories of Teaching Words: 3334 Retaining Teachers: Public Education System Words: 831 The Impact of Teacher Unionization Upon the Education of Students Words: 3529 EFL Teacher Training and Development Words: 1112 Teachers Difficulties in Working With Children Words: 871 Philosophy of Education for a Special Education Teacher Words: 643 Observation on the Teacher and Students Words: 626 Teacher-Based Assessment of Literacy Learning Words: 583 Personal Teaching Philosophy and Its Development Words: 1161 My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher Being a teacher has always been my dream. Being a teacher who makes a difference, I believe, is my goal. That is precisely the reason why I pursue studies in becoming an effective teacher. Professionally, I am aware that teachers need much training for all the tasks expected of them when they begin work. Being an effective teacher encompasses a wide spectrum of responsibilities – from designing an environment conducive to learning, to planning appropriate lessons for students and implementing them with effective educational strategies to being able to manage the class well and instilling discipline in the students, to involving parents and coordinating with others regarding the provision of quality education for the students. What are your goals in the next five years? In the next 10 or more years? Within the next year and a half, I see myself with a degree and ready to face the challenges of becoming hired as a teacher. I do not seek a position in a highly prestigious school. In fact, I have set my sights on working for a low-income school. That way, I fulfill my dream of helping children who are more in need of my services. I would like to teach first grade students. Children at that age are still very impressionable. I find it a challenge to be able to reach out to them and touch their lives in an age where the foundations of learning are being established. Gaining teaching experience for two years or so, I will keep myself alert in observing the learning needs of children of this generation and how I can better help them. Globalization may bring a great progress in many areas, however, it may likewise cause a lot of conflicts such as multi-cultural conflicts in education as well as the widening gap between the rich and poor. I find it in my mission to contribute something good to lessen, if not close the gaps in terms of discrimination in the provision of quality education for all. With this burning mission at heart, I shall set out to pursue my master’s degree in Education, specializing in Educational Leadership. This degree will arm me with the knowledge and skills I would be needing in the coming years as I work towards a career in Educational Advocacy. I see myself in that field of Education in ten years. Eventually, having earned credence as a professional educator and advocate, I shall be ripe for a leadership position in a school in ten years or so. By then, I would have mentored many young teachers and maybe influenced them with my philosophy of helping less privileged children. If I am to become a school principal, my agenda would be to take action as a school entity to provide high quality education to an adoptive school for less privileged children. What steps are necessary to get you to your goals? What obstacles can you foresee and how will you overcome them? I may have lofty ideals, but I know I can reach my dreams if I sustain my zeal to reach them. Currently, I am working hard for a degree that provides me with the stepping stones to the fulfillment of my dreams. In the mean time, I shall build a network with other people active in the educational field. I am sure I will gain much knowledge from them, and these network contacts may be instrumental in helping me in my future projects on education for less privileged children. One of society’s concern in education is reaching out to all students regardless of race, socio-economic status, ability, faith, etc. It is a fact that various backgrounds of students may keep them from getting the kind of education they deserve. Joining professional organizations will also help me do that as well as provide me with training seminars and workshops to hone my teaching skills. Possible obstacles to this journey may be family concerns, as I know myself to be an individual who would place family first. However, some family concerns may be causal factors in hindering me from pursuing a degree, taking on an employment position as a teacher, or completing a masteral degree. What is one principle from the INTASC Principles Web site that you feel you need to improve the most in order to be effective in the education profession? What existing professional development program(s) could you pursue to address the need to improve in this area? Looking at the list of INTASC Principles, I am humbled to say I need to hone my skills in all. I have so much to learn as a new teacher and it is not as easy as I thought. The principle that struck me most as needing the most improvement for me is principle number 3 which is Learning styles and diversity. I know children learn in various ways, not just through visual and auditory means, as most people think. To be a more dynamic teacher, I know I have to acknowledge, respect and adjust to various learning styles. That would entail adjusting my teaching styles to a diverse set of learners. Although teachers are expected to know what to teach children in general, they also need to be able to adjust to individual needs of their students, as not all students learn the same way at the same pace. Trafton suggests that individualization must include “acceptance of each child as an individual worthy of adult respect,” and that to this should be added “an acceptance of the child’s ideas, a provision of opportunities for pupil input in developing and selecting learning experiences, a concern for the quality of the child’s intellectual development, and a willingness to take time to know the child as an individual” ( 1975, p. 39 ). Attending seminars and workshops on Different Learning Styles (ex. By Dunn and Dunn) and Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theories will surely help me gain adequate knowledge and skills in this area of weakness of mine. What professional development programs can you enroll in to help you prepare to meet the diverse needs of today’s learners? Aside from taking elective Education subjects outside my programme, I may also take some special education courses to understand the needs of children with special needs. I may also cross-enroll in subjects that deal with multicultural differences to understand how various cultures conduct themselves – their ideals, their beliefs and behaviors as shaped by their cultures. In doing so, I may be able to understand and possibly address their educational needs. How will you evaluate your progress? What will help keep you motivated toward achieving those goals? Working with a teacher-mentor would indeed help me in the assessment of my progress as there is another eye that keeps me in check. Regular observations both of me and of my mentor at work and regular meetings on my performance and progress will keep me aware of my demeanor as a teacher. Of course, self-reflection is necessary. According to Osterman (1990), “reflection is the essential part of the learning process because it results in making sense of or extracting meaning from the experience”. People often go through their day doing their work as second nature, sometimes without thinking critically if what they are doing is truly meaningful and relevant. Schon (1983) offers the concept of knowing-in-practice to describe such mindless, functional task. An individual needs to reflect, as it can surface and criticize old, reliable ways of doing things. “Practitioners do reflect on their knowing-in-practice. But they may also reflect on practice while they are in the midst of it. Here they reflect-in action.” (62) This may be difficult to do when one is busy at work, but working as if there is always watching one’s every move keeps the individual aware of good and bad practices, and tend to keep the good practices. What professional organizations will you join? Why? What do you expect to gain from membership in these organizations? Joining professional organizations such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) and the International Reading Association (IRA) truly uplifts teachers to be more professional in their craft . They provide seminar-workshops conducted by experts in the field who deliver research-based talks to update their participants. Professional journals also go with memberships in these organizations which provide articles and readings on the latest developments in the field. However, the best advantage in joining such organizations is networking with co-professionals in the field, as much learning ensues in exchanging notes about each one’s current practices. One can also validate his or her current practice in networking with other professionals. Also, as member, one feels a certain sense of pride and dignity of being a teacher, as consistently communicated to them by these prestigious organizations. Teachers are considered lifelong learners, and are expected to model such quality to inspire their students. Judith Little (1982) recommends teachers to collaborate with each other to come up with more effective instruction . They should engage in frequent, continuous and increasing concrete and precise conferences on their teaching practice and be able to reflect if these practices are working to encourage success in their students. They should be open to feedback and allow frequent observation of their teaching performance. Together, they should plan, design, research, evaluate and prepare teaching materials. They should also support and coach each other on other practices of teaching. What techniques will you use to help you develop leadership skills? Aside from reflection, I can also equip myself with knowledge and skills from readings and self-education. Attending seminars and workshops on leadership will also go a long way. The most important thing for me is to engage the contributions of the members of the group. In a research reported by French, Simpson and Harvey (2001), a good leader is also equipped with ‘negative capability’. “The underpinning image of leadership is based on knowing and is manifested through activity, work and achievement. There is, however, a quite other dimension of leadership, based on not knowing, on not doing, on being-done-to, and on being no longer in control of one’s own situation.” (French, Simpson & Harvey, 2001). I interpret such a construct as being humble enough to admit when one doesn’t really know instead of putting up a façade of being all-knowing. Tolerating enough ambiguity to keep the creative juices flowing in the organization is balanced with seeking coherence in the chaos. Fullan states, “All of this complexity keeps people at the edge of chaos. It is important to be at that edge because that is where creativity resides, but anarchy lurks there too” (Fullan, 2004, p.5). This peculiarly human capacity to live with and tolerate ambiguity, of being content with half knowledge is quite a refreshing concept. “It implies the capacity to engage in a non-defensive way with change, without being overwhelmed by the ever-present pressure merely to react. It also indicates empathy and even a certain flexibility of character, the ability ‘to tolerate a loss of self and a loss of rationality by trusting in the capacity to recreate oneself in another character or another environment’ (Hutter, 1982, p.305). This leads us to the next statement, “A good leader is always open to learning something new, and not haughty enough to claim that he is already “made”.” Being human and fallible is one trait that all members of the group share, and what better quality to relate to than that? Group members will even feel important enough to share the burden of thinking up solutions to problems with their leader. I am humble enough to admit when I do not know what to do, and I believe this humility will endear me to my followers to help me be a better leader….. and a better teacher. Cite this paper Chicago (N-B) Chicago (A-D) StudyCorgi. (2021, November 18). My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher. https://studycorgi.com/my-personal-development-plan-as-a-future-teacher/ "My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher." StudyCorgi , 18 Nov. 2021, studycorgi.com/my-personal-development-plan-as-a-future-teacher/. StudyCorgi . (2021) 'My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher'. 18 November. 1. StudyCorgi . "My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher." November 18, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/my-personal-development-plan-as-a-future-teacher/. Bibliography StudyCorgi . "My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher." November 18, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/my-personal-development-plan-as-a-future-teacher/. StudyCorgi . 2021. "My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher." November 18, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/my-personal-development-plan-as-a-future-teacher/. This paper, “My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment. Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: November 18, 2021 . If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay. Erasmus+ Resources 9.4 /10 on 38.000 verified reviews 7 Ways That Teachers Can Improve Their Lessons As educators, we have to constantly innovate to adapt our style to the ever-changing needs of new students. New teaching techniques are always emerging, so, whether you’ve been an educator for 40 years or just 4 months, you should always be looking for ways to improve your teaching quality. Students need to learn a wide range of abilities, therefore, it is extremely important that teachers have a wide range of strategies to ensure that all students are able to achieve their best possible results. In this article, you’ll find 7 ways that teachers can improve their lessons . Use ICT tools and digital game-based learning As the world is becoming more and more digitalized, even very young students are now able to use technology proficiently. That is why including ICT tools in your lessons makes them more relevant and fun for your students and, as a consequence, it helps them to achieve better learning outcomes. Apart from the popular quiz-making app Kahoot , great for competitive students who will do their best to answer the quickest and get the most points, there are thousands of great online tools for teachers to use on the internet. For instance, the app Study Blue is also really useful as it allows teachers to create flashcards and study materials for their students and students can also use this themselves during their revision. Using digital game-based learning , such as Minecraft in your class, is not impossible once you have an intermediate level of computer proficiency, and not only does it help your students to fully engage in the learning process but also enhances their creativity and team-working. -> If you struggle with using technology in your lessons and want to improve these skills, find out 15 Online Apps & Tools for Teaching (Free of Charge) . Differentiate between students While your students will most likely be the same age, it is very unlikely that they are all at the same level. Therefore, it is important that you differentiate between students and provide a range of activities that will challenge the more skilled members of the class but that the less talented will still be able to take part in too. A way to ensure that all members of the class are being sufficiently challenged is to introduce an ‘extension activity’ for the more gifted pupils who might finish an activity much faster than the other students. This would include more questions about the topic or a final more difficult exercise to be solved only once the student has completed the minimum compulsory activity. In addition, some learning styles suit some learners better too. Some students may be visual learners and therefore might learn better by watching a video or a mind map, whereas other students may be reading/writing learners and therefore find reading and taking notes the easiest way to learn. Therefore, make sure that you include a wide range of activities so that each lesson caters to different learning styles. -> If you wish to discover more on the different learning styles, check out the blog article “ Learning Styles > Fact or Fiction? “ Use the flipped classroom model The flipped classroom model is a technique that we really encourage teachers to use. By implementing this methodology, students complete readings or watch videos to grasp the content of a subject at home and complete activities, which would often be set as homework, in the classroom . This results not only in an increase in student-teacher interaction, with the student at the centre of the lesson but also in increased interaction among students, that are encouraged to actively collaborate during the class. The flipped learning model also allows teachers to help those students who struggle to understand the concepts more since the activities take place in class time so it is easier to see which students have grasped it and which haven’t. -> Want to find out more about the flipped classroom model? Read our blog article “ Flipped Classroom: Everything You Always Wanted to Know “ Encourage cooperative learning Cooperative learning is when students work together in groups in order to complete an assigned task . Cooperative learning is important as students have to rely on one another in order to achieve the outcome. It also makes students develop teamwork skills which are also extremely useful for life outside of school. Lots of students dislike the idea of group work as they fear that they will be put in a group where some pupils won’t do as much work as others. Therefore, if students are working in groups, it is a good idea to make sure that every member of the group has been assigned a specific role , to ensure that every learner pulls their weight. -> Discover Five Strategies to use Cooperative Learning in Your Classroom Communicate with colleagues A great way less experienced teachers can improve their lessons is to speak to more experienced colleagues to discuss good practices and new teaching techniques which you may not have heard about. A more experienced teacher can also be a very important source of support and can give you good advice about a variety of issues which you may come across as a teacher since they will have already experienced and managed to overcome the same issues. Communicate with parents Just as communicating with fellow teachers is extremely important, it is also important to ensure you communicate with students’ parents . Parents play an absolutely vital role in their children’s education as they can supervise and enforce students completing their homework and studying at home. In addition, it is also important to communicate with parents regarding behavior management. It can be very confusing for a child if their behavior is being managed in different ways at home and at school. Therefore, teachers and parents can also discuss the best ways to manage any difficult behavior and come up with a unified approach. A good way to facilitate this communication between parents and teachers is to have a parent-teacher evening to discuss each individual child’s progress. Create a welcoming environment In teaching, you meet and teach students from a wide range of different socio-economic, cultural, and social backgrounds. It is extremely important that regardless of their gender, sexuality, or background, all students feel comfortable in your classroom and feel comfortable to give their opinion. There are many ways that you can promote diversity within the classroom for example by looking at the curriculum and ensuring that you are teaching students about a wide range of historical events involving people from different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. You should also ensure that you confront any discrimination whenever you hear it in the classroom or corridors. Finally, you should also make sure you use language that promotes diversity or deconstructs stereotypes, for instance, if you hear phrases such as ‘man up’ which reinforces the stereotype that all men must be strong and cannot talk about their feelings, it would be a good idea to discuss it with your students. -> Do you want to learn more about how to create an inclusive classroom environment for students from diverse backgrounds? Check out our course ‘ Managing a Diverse Classroom: Facing Upcoming Challenges ‘ Regardless of age or experience, all teachers can improve their teaching styles. In order to do so, teachers need to make sure that their lessons remain relevant, by implementing the latest teaching techniques or tools- teachers can find out the latest trends and techniques by speaking to other members of the profession. Teachers also need to ensure that they communicate sufficiently with parents so that they work together to provide the best possible education for the child concerned. Indeed, the best way to create an inclusive learning environment for students from any background is to talk with them, get to know them, and care about them, for instance, integrating their hobbies in the classroom is usually a good way to increase their interest. Are there any other ways that you think teachers are able to improve their classes? Share them with us in the comments below! 2 thoughts on “ 7 Ways That Teachers Can Improve Their Lessons ” Very impressive teaching aids or tools or smart ways to in hence your teaching skills this is a really really great work. it was best I saw Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. Introducing TeachCatalystAI TeachCatalystAI is a professional teaching assistant tool designed to help teachers create lesson plan, teaching materials, and many more with ease. Our AI-powered tool will help you streamline your classroom management, making it easier to keep track of students, assignments, and behavior. Our AI-powered tools and templates are great and configured to make you effective in teaching. 19 Simple Tips To Help You Self-improve As A Teacher There are many things that can help teachers improve their own teaching skills, but sometimes it can be difficult to find the time or motivation to do so. In this article, we’ve compiled 19 simple tips that will help you to self-improve as a teacher. By following these tips, you’ll be able to increase your effectiveness as a teacher and help your students achieve their goals. Strategies to Help You Improve Yourself As A Teacher The following are some of the techniques you can use to improve yourself as a teacher: 1. Start by analyzing your own behavior and working to improve upon it. In order to be the best teacher possible, it is important to continuously evaluate your own behavior and work to improve upon it. This involves taking a close look at what you do well and what you could do better. By doing this, you can identify areas where you may need to make changes in order to become a more effective educator. One of the benefits of self-evaluation is that it allows you to focus on your own strengths and weaknesses. It can also help you set realistic goals for yourself, as well as identify ways to achieve them. 2. Be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses and use that information to help others. As a teacher, it is important to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. This information can help you improve as a teacher by using your strengths to help others and recognizing your weaknesses and working to improve them. For example, if you are good at math, you can help students with math problems. If you are not good at math, you can work on improving your math skills. This will help you become a better teacher overall. 3. Take the time to reflect on your teaching methods and find ways to improve them. Teachers often reflect on their teaching methods to find ways to improve their teaching practices. There are many reasons why taking the time for self-reflection is important for teachers. First, reflection allows teachers to examine their own beliefs and assumptions about teaching and learning. This can help teachers identify any biases they may have and consider how these might influence their teaching. 4. Be patient with yourself; learning takes time and effort. Teachers are always looking for ways to improve their teaching practices. However, many teachers find themselves struggling to make changes in their teaching. They may feel that they are not making the progress they want or that they are not doing things the right way. 5. Never give up on your efforts to improve as a teacher! Teachers are always looking for ways to improve their teaching. However, many teachers give up on their efforts to improve too soon. There are several reasons why it’s important to never give up on your efforts to improve as a teacher. Finally, never giving up on your efforts to improve sends a message to your students that you’re committed to their success and that you’re never too old or too experienced to learn new things. 6. Set Goals: Establish what you want to achieve and how you will measure your success. First, goal setting can help you stay focused on your teaching objectives. When you have specific goals in mind, you are less likely to be distracted by other things that might occur in the classroom. Second, goal setting can help you to become more organized and efficient in your teaching. 7. Talk to other teachers about what works for them and ask for advice. Additionally, hearing about the successes and failures of other teachers can help you reflect on your own teaching practice and identify areas in which you may need to improve. One of the best things about seeking advice from other teachers is that you can tailor your conversations to fit your specific needs. If you’re looking for ideas on how to improve your classroom management skills, for example, then talking to a colleague who has a strong track record in that area can be very helpful. 8. Join a professional development group related to teaching. Network with other teachers and learn from them. Teachers are always looking for ways to improve their teaching practice. One way to do this is to join a professional development group related to teaching. Professional development groups can provide you with opportunities to learn from your peers and experts in the field. You can also gain access to resources that can help you improve your teaching. So, why should you join a teachers’ professional development group? There are many reasons! Professional development groups can help you improve your teaching practice, gain access to resources, and build relationships with other educators. 9. Attend workshops and training on various aspects of teaching. As a teacher, you may always be looking for ways to improve your teaching skills. Attending workshops and training related to teaching can be one of the best ways to do this. Workshops can help you learn new techniques, while training can help you stay up to date on the latest changes in the education field. 10. Study different teaching methods and try out new strategies in your classroom. Teachers always want to find new and innovative ways to help their students learn. However, sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to improving your teaching methods. 11. Be open to learning new things and trying new approaches. In order to improve as a teacher, it is important to be open to learning new things. In fact, there are many reasons why remaining open to learning can help you improve as a teacher. Take the time to reflect on your own teaching practice. What works? What doesn’t work? Why? 12. Stay current in your field of teaching. Read articles, attend workshops/conferences, etc. Teachers are always looking for ways to improve their teaching practices. One of the best ways to do this is to stay current in your field of teaching. Keeping up with the latest research, trends, and techniques can help you improve your teaching skills. You can also find new ideas and strategies to use in your classroom. There are many benefits to staying current in your field of teaching. Research shows that teachers who stay current in their field of teaching are more likely to be effective and efficient. Teachers who stay current in their field of teaching can also be more knowledgeable about the latest developments in their field, which can help them to improve their skills as a teacher. 13. Build positive relationships with your students. Make an effort to get to know them and their families. This understanding can help you create a class that is more suited to their needs and interests, which in turn will make teaching them more enjoyable for both you and your students. Additionally, when students feel appreciated and supported by their teacher, they are more likely to try their best and behave positively in the classroom. Having good relationships with your students and their families helps you improve every aspect of your teaching. 14. Take the time to learn about each student’s background, interests, and goals. 15. be patient with your students. remember that each student has their own learning style and that they may need time to learn a new concept.. You should be patient with your students because each student has a unique way of learning. In order to help yourself improve as a teacher, you must first understand your students. 16. Be a role model: Be a role model for your students. That will help you better teach them and motivate them to learn. That is, by being positive role models, you become better teachers for your students. 17. Stay positive: Keep a positive attitude in the classroom. Furthermore, a positive attitude creates a more welcoming and supportive environment for students, which can help them learn better. Finally, staying positive allows teachers to maintain their energy and enthusiasm for teaching, which is essential for keeping a classroom motivated. 18. Take care of yourself: eat well, exercise, and get enough sleep. Another reason self-care is important for teachers is that it can help reduce stress levels. High-stress levels can lead to decreased productivity, poor decision-making, and health problems. Taking time for yourself allows you to decompress and clear your mind so that you can focus on teaching effectively. There are many different ways to take care of yourself, but it’s important that you find what works best for you and stick with it. 19. Be a lifelong learner: Embrace change, experiment with new ideas, and never stop learning. There are many reasons why being a lifelong learner can help you improve as a teacher. First, when you are always learning, you are constantly growing and expanding your own knowledge base. This makes you a more effective teacher, as you can share information with your students that are relevant and up-to-date. Self-improvement is an ongoing process, and there is no one right way to do it. Teachers should seek to improve their practice on an ongoing basis by doing things that are effective, enjoyable, and relevant to them. By following the tips provided in this article, you can improve yourself and your teaching styles, methods, and techniques tremendously. Latest Posts What makes an effective curriculum, how to implement curriculum effectively, how to define behavioral expectations for kids in the classroom. ChatGPT for Teachers Trauma-informed practices in schools, teacher well-being, cultivating diversity, equity, & inclusion, integrating technology in the classroom, social-emotional development, covid-19 resources, invest in resilience: summer toolkit, civics & resilience, all toolkits, degree programs, trauma-informed professional development, teacher licensure & certification, how to become - career information, classroom management, instructional design, lifestyle & self-care, online higher ed teaching, current events, how teachers can increase the impact of essay writing for students. As writing has become an integral part of all subject areas, teachers have assigned more essays across the curriculum. And, as you probably discovered when you read some of those essays, they can be incredibly boring for you to read and equally boring for the student to write. To ensure that writing across the curriculum becomes effective, teachers must work on increasing the impact of essay writing for students. Authentic Writing The first step you can take as a teacher to improve student writing is to provide students with authentic writing tasks. Essay writing is hardly the most authentic writing task as we rarely have times in our lives when we have to write essays. Instead, you should strive to assign writing tasks students will actually do later in their life. Persuasive letters and emails, Power Point presentations and even blog posts present students with a more authentic writing task and one they could expect to do in the future. These formats also allow for more student innovation in writing styles resulting in more dynamic assignments students will actually want to write. Ongoing Revision Real writers see their work as a series of ongoing editing and revision. Even after a final draft is completed and submitted, writers still want to go back and make changes. Teaching students that writing is an ongoing, dynamic process not just something that ends when a paper is turned in will teach them much more about good writing than assignments with definite starts and finishes. One way you can implement ongoing revision for your students is by conferencing with students, opportunities for peer feedback and allowing students to rewrite papers. You can also share your own writing, writing attempts and ongoing revisions of your professional writing to show students that revision is a large part of writing in the “real world.” Respect Student Interests Who says that teachers must always supply the writing prompt? No one, that’s who. Students should have the opportunity to create their own writing prompts based on their unique interests. They can certainly relate those interests back to the essential skill or understanding at the heart of a unit. By allowing students to choose a writing topic based on their interest, you will learn more about your students and receive more engaging essays than if you assign the topic for students. Writing across the curriculum will continue to play an increasingly more important role in education. Our society, which relies so heavily on written mobile communication, demands that we all increase our writing skills. Making the essay writing experience more dynamic for students will help them attain those writing skills they need for the 21 st century. You may also like to read 5 Ways to Exercise Essay Writing for Elementary Students Students Evaluating Teachers: What Educators Need to Know 7 Cooperative Math Games Teachers and Students Will Love How Teachers Can Impart the Benefits of Students Working in Groups Three Ways Preschool Teachers Can Use Elmo to Help Students Learn Creating Better Online Students: A Guide for Teachers Categorized as: Tips for Teachers and Classroom Resources Certificates in Trauma-Informed Education and... Online & Campus Master's in Higher Education ... Alternative Teaching Certificates 276 IMAGES Future Plans and My Teaching Experience: [Essay Example], 530 words 8 essential skills of the teacher of the future Essay on Why I Want to Become a Teacher, mai teacher kyu banna chahta hu par Essay English mein As a future teacher Why Is Principles Important As A Future Teacher My Teacher Essay VIDEO What Students Expect From Teachers My Favourite teacher English Essay writing || Revolution Education Write an Essay on My Favourite Teacher in English The Role of Teachers in Shaping Students' Lives Write Easy & Short Best English essay on Role of Teacher ഒരു നല്ല ടീച്ചർക്ക് വേണ്ട ഗുണങ്ങൾ👨🏻‍🏫 COMMENTS Essay on My Goal As A Teacher By being a lifelong learner, I can be the best teacher for my students. In conclusion, my goal as a teacher is to share knowledge, create a safe and happy classroom, spark curiosity, build confidence, prepare students for the future, support their dreams, and always keep learning. I want to leave a lasting, positive mark on each student's ... I Want to Become a Teacher Because In these 31 student essays, future educators answer the question "I want to become a teacher because …" or "I want to become a teacher to …". The short student essays are grouped thematically, forming the top reasons to become a teacher. Top 7 Inspiring Reasons to Become a Teacher. 1. Giving Brings Its Own Rewards. 2. Help ... Future Plans and My Teaching Experience I believe that I will be able to help all my students reach their optimal potential. I would like to use my experience and skills to grow and become a motivating teacher through your program. I want to be an enthusiastic, personable, and a creative teacher for our children of the future. You may also be interested. Becoming a Teacher: What I Learned about Myself During the Pandemic This case study made me think about myself and who I am becoming as a teacher in a way that was incredibly real and relevant to what teachers were facing. I now found inspiration in the COVID-19 pandemic, as it unlocked elements of myself that I did not know existed. John Dewey (1916) has been attributed to stating, "Education is not ... Effective Teachers' Skills and Qualities Get a custom essay on Effective Teachers' Skills and Qualities. Firstly, it is important to understand the essence of good teaching. Great teachers have a combination of many qualities. It is believed that such qualities as warmth, planning, and self-discipline determine a good teacher. Although a good teaching demands deep knowledge of ... The Power of Teacher Inspiration: How Educators Shape The Future In conclusion, teachers are an essential part of our society, and their impact on their students' lives cannot be overstated. Teachers inspire their students in many ways, from their passion for teaching to their ability to create a positive and inclusive classroom environment. They provide their students with opportunities to explore and discover new things, set high expectations, and ... How do you see yourself as a future teacher? 7 sample answers As a rule of a thumb, you should come up with a positive and tangible vision of your future as a teacher. People in the admission committees are looking for applicants with a concrete vision, perhaps even a specific place where you want to teach, or at least a specific subject, grade level, etc. Saying that you simply want to be a great teacher ... 10 Tips to Improve Your Teaching Skills By implementing these 10 strategies, you can enhance your teaching skills, foster a positive learning environment, and ultimately improve the educational experiences of your students. Remember, the journey to becoming a better teacher is ongoing, and every step you take towards improvement makes a significant impact on the lives of your students. 7 recommendations to improve teacher professional development in The research on ongoing teacher support notes that teachers who receive on-the-job support, guidance and feedback from a supervisors or a trained support person apply new skills and strategies more frequently and appropriately and adopt a more diverse range of instructional practices than teachers who do not receive such supports (Showers ... Becoming a Better Teacher: How to Evaluate and Improve Your Teaching Skills Look for Patterns. Once you are in the habit of evaluating your class activities, you will start to notice patterns in your teaching. You will see areas of your teaching or classroom activities that are consistently strong. In addition, you will see areas of your teaching or classroom activities that are consistently weaker. Four Strategies for Effective Writing Instruction 'Four Square' Michele Morgan has been writing IEPs and behavior plans to help students be more successful for 17 years. She is a national-board-certified teacher, Utah Teacher Fellow with Hope ... Areas of Growth for Teachers > What Can Teachers Improve On? Teachers' efficacy is, arguably, the product of three aspects: Deep knowledge of the subject-matter or content area; Professional experience; Development of teaching skills. Consequently, due to the fast changes in technology and society, an educator must brush up on their pedagogy to stay relevant. Writing Your Teaching Philosophy Writing Your Teaching Philosophy. Your teaching philosophy is a self-reflective statement of your beliefs about teaching and learning. It's a one to two page narrative that conveys your core ideas about being an effective teacher in the context of your discipline. It develops these ideas with specific, concrete examples of what the teacher and ... Five Ways to Improve Your Teaching In addition to informing your teaching on an ongoing basis, the reflection fostered by keeping a teaching log will greatly assist you in writing up a statement of teaching philosophy for your teaching portfolio. For further information on how to keep a teaching log, see: Brookfield, Stephen (1995). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San ... How to be a better teacher And not only that: It also helps you as a teacher. Are all your students struggling with the same exercise? It's a great way to know which topics to repeat or which lessons to improve so that students succeed in the future. 8. Personalize learning. This is a tough one, so if you answered "no" here, a lot of your colleagues are right there with you. 10 Reasons To Become a Teacher You Can Include in an Essay Both these group lessons and individual meetings can help teachers learn how to serve as mentors for their students. If you think you could serve as a good role model for students, consider discussing in your teacher essay how and why educators can serve as mentors. 6. Help future generations A teacher can improve the lives of future generations. My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher My Personal Development Plan as a Future Teacher. Topics: Personality Development, Teaching Words: 1968 Pages: 7. Being a teacher has always been my dream. Being a teacher who makes a difference, I believe, is my goal. That is precisely the reason why I pursue studies in becoming an effective teacher. Professionally, I am aware that teachers ... My Future Teacher Essay A good teacher should be able to create a good learning and teaching environment and then be able to utilize every single opportunity for passing on whatever he/she has. In doing this one can increase knowledge and understanding that in turn transform the life of the learner positively. A teacher is among the great destiny changers who even ... 7 Ways Teachers Can Improve Their Lessons Discover 7 ways to improve your lessons. Communicate with colleagues. Communicate with parents. Create a welcoming environment. Conclusion. As educators, we have to constantly innovate to adapt our style to the ever-changing needs of new students. New teaching techniques are always emerging, so, whether you've been an educator for 40 years or ... 19 Simple Tips To Help You Self-improve As A Teacher 19. Be a lifelong learner: Embrace change, experiment with new ideas, and never stop learning. There are many reasons why being a lifelong learner can help you improve as a teacher. First, when you are always learning, you are constantly growing and expanding your own knowledge base. How Teachers Can Increase the Impact of Essay Writing for Students Authentic Writing. The first step you can take as a teacher to improve student writing is to provide students with authentic writing tasks. Essay writing is hardly the most authentic writing task as we rarely have times in our lives when we have to write essays. Instead, you should strive to assign writing tasks students will actually do later ... assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review thesis