Teacher Enthusiasm

I have found from my experience that lots of students dislike history. They find memorizing people, events and dates boring and uninteresting. Being a history major, and possibly a future history teacher, I often wonder what made me love history as much as I do. I was never one of those kids who knew all the presidents, or could name all the generals in the Civil War; history has not always been one of my passions. But looking back on my years in high school, most of my favorite teachers taught social studies. It was in my social studies classes that I enjoyed learning the most and was interested in more than just getting an A. And it was those teachers who I could tell absolutely loved the subject they were teaching. They had so much passion and got so excited every day about what we were learning in class. I remember my AP US history teacher, Mr. Keir who always had history stories that couldn't be found in the textbook. It was obvious that he loved history so much and brought that energy into the classroom. I looked forward to going to his class every day because I knew he was going to make history enjoyable for me. Another class I loved because of the teacher was economics. I had no idea what to expect from economics class, but it ended up being my favorite class senior year of high school. My teacher, Mr. Stanke loved teaching high school economics more than anything in the world. He never stopped learning; he was always taking classes to learn more about economics. Economics class wasn't just about learning the material from the textbook, but we did projects to apply it to real world circumstances. Students can see the passion in teachers. A class cannot be enjoyable unless the teacher absolutely loves what they are teaching, and passes that enthusiasm onto their students.

Authentic Teachers

Ask any kindergartner where the principal of their school sleeps and many of them will say on the bed in the health room. Most kids are shocked when they finally realize that teachers and principals are real people who have a life outside of the school walls. Why, then are teachers afraid to be authentic with their students sharing personal experiences and beliefs? I had one teacher in high school who refused to share anything in the classroom that was not directly related to classroom material. And on the other hand, I had some teachers who spent more time telling about their personal life than they did teaching. There must be a balance for teachers between focusing on teaching and being a real human being in the classroom. I'm not saying that teachers should go around sharing all of their personal information with students because that isn't appropriate and that's not the kind of relationship that a teacher should have with students. But teachers need to some degree show that they are real people in the classroom. Real people continue learning all their life, and sometimes real people even make mistakes. Some teachers try to put out the image that they are like gods; always right, never wrong but that's not how people are. Students need to have role models to show them that its ok to make mistakes sometimes because that's part of being human. A few teachers out there feel the need to be all business and act like they know everything in order to gain respect. But I think that students respect a teacher more if the teacher is willing to continue learning and developing as a person. Ultimately the goal of getting kids through school is to make them people who are ready for the real world. People in the real world make mistakes and learn to adapt to new situations. I think it's important for kids to start learning those lessons in school, and what better way to learn them than to have teachers setting the example of how it's done. Teachers should be themselves, and more often than not, it leads to students feeling more comfortable in the classroom because they realize that teachers don't have any 'magical' powers or gifts, but they are just ordinary people doing extraordinary jobs.

Compassion from a Teacher

Teaching is not only about passing along content information to students, but a large part of being a teacher is getting to know and truly care about the well being of every person in the classroom. Students are human beings who need adults to look up to. Kindergarten through 12th graders are learning so much more than just academic content through the course of their school years. They are developing socially and emotionally as well as academically in need of role models who are compassionate and care about them as people. Teachers play an integral role in this development because of the number of hours spent with the same kids day after day for an entire year. It is extremely important that students feel that teachers care about them as people. From my experience, the teachers who make the most impact are not the ones who are the smartest in their subject area, or write the best tests, but the ones who take the time to get to know each and every one of their students, and are willing to put in the extra time to help a student whether its concerning school work or not. Early on in my senior year of high school I got very ill and was out of school for several weeks. From this situation I learned first hand which teachers cared about me as a human being who needs extra attention, and which teachers just saw me as their job. My economics teacher, Mr. Stanke, once stayed after school with me on a Friday afternoon until 5pm to help me get caught up. He could always tell when I wasn't feeling well when I came to make up a test and always gave me the option to wait until I felt better before taking the test. He didn't help me because it was his job and he got paid to do it, I felt he genuinely cared about my overall well being. I hope that I can one day thank Mr. Stanke by showing the same compassion to one of my students. I was so blessed to have a teacher that cared about me as a person, and when I become a teacher I want to give the same to my students.

Respect in the classroom

When I asked my church choir of kindergarten through 3rd graders what it means to be respectful they gave me the typical answer, "Be nice and be kind." This is what we are taught is respect, to raise your hand to answer a question, listen when others are talking, keep hands to yourself and be nice to your classmates. But I think respect can be seen in so many other ways in the classroom. Not only do students need to respect teachers, but teachers need to respect their students as well. In order to expect students to listen and pay attention when the teacher is talking, the teacher needs to, in turn, actively listen when students are expressing their opinions and feelings about a particular subject. There needs to be an understanding on the part of the teacher that all students learn and think differently, and part of respecting students is to address and accommodate these differences. Students need to have control of their learning. At my first rehearsal with my children's choir of 4th-7th graders, after explaining my expectations of them, I asked them if they had any expectations they wanted to add to the list to make this year the best year it can be for them and for the teacher. Teachers cannot make demands of their students without giving something in return. It is only when students feel respected and responsible for their learning that students will feel comfortable and willing to share their ideas freely. A lack of respect from the teacher results in students not getting the most out of their educational experience. And in order for anything to get done in the classroom, students need to respect the teacher and their fellow classmates or too much time will get wasted on discipline that could have gone to learning. Respect in the classroom is more than just 'being nice and being kind.' It is an extremely important part of being an effective teacher, and giving students a valuable learning experience.