A Good Teacher

1349 Words6 Pages
Good teachers are amazing–and rare. The ignorance of the Those who can’t, teach mantra is frightening–being a good teacher is an incredible challenge to achieve consistently. Good teachers use data to drive instruction, know the ins and outs of their curriculum, have refined assessments over and over until they measure depth of content knowledge and not procedural knowledge or some crazy game of remember what the teacher said, or guess what the teacher’s thinking. They support students in self-directed learning, know how technology actually improves learning, and exude a charisma that makes students eager to learn from them. They know which assessments are for “show,” and which are for “go”—that is, which look good from 10 feet, and which provide visibility for both the student and teacher where the learning needs to go next. Data and artifacts of learning for ECE, G/T, and other “special populations” (as if they all wouldn’t benefit from such individualization) are always current and accessible. Good teachers create positive environments for students where each learner feels safe to share thinking, ask questions, and participate in conversations naturally. In assignments, learning objectives are clear and within each student’s zone of proximal development—not too easy, not too hard. Resources come at just the right time, as do questions, grouping opportunities, and literacy strategies. Transfer of knowledge is clear and apparent, backwards-planned for at the beginning of every intentionally planned and intricately-designed learning sequence. Parents know what’s happening in the classroom as well—not just when report cards come out, but persistently through a combination of technology, visibility relevant work that ends up at home and in the communities, and on conference nights, where that good teacher stays until 8 o’clock to make every learner and learner

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