Blog Post 7

"What is greatness in teaching?" Guide

Being adaptive- In order to be a great teacher, you have to adapt how you teach for all students. Not every student learns the same way, which Ayers shows in chapter 7 when one student understood subtraction by a different teaching method than the other. It is crucial to have different tactics and styles when teaching, so you can adapt to every kids understanding of knowledge.

Be engaging/enthusiastic- This idea comes from the factor of being passionate about your work. Teachers have to keep the attention of a group a kids, while also teaching them the content they need to know. All kids have different attention spans, but by being enthusiastic and engaging teachers can make the students interested in what they are learning. When students are interested at learning they will pay attention, but not only that they will actually want to pay attention.

Self-reflecting- Teachers need to understand that they are going to make mistakes. The students are not the only ones growing in the classroom, teachers are constantly growing also. As a teacher, we must be able to criticize ourselves and being able to reflect on ourselves. We must not criticize ourselves to the points where we become timid, we must do it to a degree that allows us to be open to different styles and teachings. It is difficult to tell yourself that you are doing something wrong, but it is necessary if we want to grow and become a better teacher for our students.

Be open-minded- This idea can tie in with two other factors that I have listed. Being adaptive and self-reflecting requires teachers to be open-minded. Being open minded allows teachers to accept and think of new ideas or styles of teaching. Open-mindedness allows the teacher to be creative and change or alter their style of teaching.

Authenticity- Being authentic can be difficult when be the instructor of the classroom. Some teachers think that they have to implement a high degree of respect from the students and strictly only be their teacher. I believe it is important to have authentic and genuine relationships with the students. Teachers are with their students either more or as much as the students are with their family. Teachers should have friendly relationships and care about the students outside of the classroom. This should not be abused though by becoming their best friend and talking about inappropriate or too personal of subjects. Teachers must be there for their students and genuinely care for them, while maintaining a level of respect from the students.