Behind every effective teacher exists a diverse array ofimpressionable students who look upon him or her as a type of guiding light.
Inorder for an individual to actually be an effective educator, they must takefull consideration of the needs, welfare, and motivations of these studentswhom they have been tasked with educating. All concepts and educational theorymust be utilized and adapted towards serving that end. A skilled and effectiveteacher will be able to apply the fundamentals of educational theory in arelatable, comprehensible, and enjoyable environment. This methodology providesa space where the students can best thrive and succeed both academically and inlife.An effective teacher needs to first and foremost take thestudents’ needs into consideration as the first order of business. They cannotuse their knowledge as teachers without first focusing on elements that createsa good environment with full consideration of the diversity of students andtheir needs (“INTASC Standards”, n.d).
Individual education programs are trulya necessity to be conscious of in order to fulfill proper development in theclassroom especially when preparing lesson plans. While observing a special educationEnglish class, the teacher created an online interactive study game for thestudents to engage in. I asked her what made her decide this route in order toexplain and reinforce the content objective. She explained that all of herstudents were at home gamers. This allowed the teacher to effectively create aspecifically tailored environment for learning to facilitate academic growth (“ClassroomInstruction That Works”, 2012). The students immerse themselves in the latestvideo games at home and acknowledge that they perform very well.
Prior tocreating this study game, her students had trouble focusing and demonstratedvery short attention spans when reading hard copies. Students were staring outthe window, engaging in personal conversations and not participating because oftheir lack of interest. The teacher referenced the first INTASC Standard inorder to regain focus and structure amongst the students. The class viewed the studygame as a friendly competition amongst their peers, which added an incentive topush them to win by answering each question correctly. The interactive study game implemented thestudents to absorb the content to fast track their learning. In anotherobservation with a Social Studies class, the students were learning about coatof arms.
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The teacher allowed the students to research their own family coat ofarms if they had one and if they did to share their insight. Students were ableto explain the purpose and significant of coats of arms and the elements withinthem. Their final project implemented the key components of INTASC Standard 2.The teacher wanted the students to go home and create a customized coat of armsthat focused on their surnames. He wanted the students to have a conversationwith their families on the origin of their family name and elements that theymay incorporate to best represent their families.
This project assignmentallowed the teacher to understand the dynamics of each student and allowed thestudents to familiarize themselves with their peers (“INTASC Standard”, n.d). Byallowing content objectives to incorporate personal education programs andfamily involvement, it can enhance student growth and development creating anefficient environment conducted by an effective teacher. Lessons and activities should be geared towards practicalapplications of teaching the students a plan of action and proper methodologyto heighten their levels of learning.
An effective teacher constantly educatestheir students to interpret critical thinking situations by administering properforms of analyses through declarative and procedural knowledge (PlanningEffective Instruction, 2019, p. 10). While declarative knowledge focuses onknowing about something, procedural knowledge focuses on knowing how to dosomething. Both are effective towards determining how to best organize thecontent for successful teaching (Planning Effective Instruction, 2019, p.
2). Inmy opinion, in order to get the best out of your students an effective teachershould allow students to challenge both their assumptions and hypothesis ontheir own and encouraging them to tie together lesson plans with current worldevents or popular culture. This style of teaching references the INTASCStandard 4 through content knowledge.
Students must discover the answers totheir questions through inquiry and experience. Allowing your students to cometo conclusions on their own encourages them to understand, question and analyzeideas from diverse prospective so that they master the content relating it tooutside interest. While observing in a studio art class, the teacher led thelesson plan of pop art. He explained the top influencers and their contributionto the trend.
The students seemed to be disconnected and uninterested with manyquestions of what pop art was. The teacher instructed the class to pick theirfavorite icon; whether it is an actor, singer or public figure. A studentraised his hand and asked if his image of Michael Jordan was popular culture.The teacher responded, “You tell me”. The student began to think and explainedthat he believed that Michael Jordan was in fact popular culture because of hisinfluence in basketball, fashion and various philanthropic contributions. Theteacher praised the student for coming to the conclusion on his own andexplained that pop art was short for popular art that stemmed from popularculture, which we all experience everyday.
The lesson transitioned to havingthe students take their images of what they considered to be popular figuresand create a pop art concept using printmaking. This lesson was reallynoteworthy because the students truly engaged in their carvings so meticulouslyto create a perfect print. When a student gains a heighten interest to a topicthey can fully relate to, their focus and interest towards the activityincreases which really empowers the student to feel more educated andsuccessful on a topic.Educators are full of knowledge and are proficient in one ormore subject areas. However, teaching students what they know based on a guidedcurriculum is only half the battle. It is imperative to assess the content andevaluate student progress to fully ensure that your methods of teaching areeffective to your students.
If after assessing your students and you feel as ifthe objective was not understood, an effective teacher should then figure outways to improve their abilities as an educator. Constantly assessing thestudents whether it is formally, informally, summative, or formative is vitaltowards monitoring the children and determining if re-teaching the informationis necessary or if higher standards should be set (“INTASC Standards”, n.d). Asstudents progress, teachers can limit the modifications the student receives asthe child progresses in order to further increase their confidence in thesubject. The Danielson Rubric outlines that effective teachers design formativeassessments to monitor student learning and they deliver the information requiredto distinguish instruction. From personal experiences, when my brother enteredhigh school he was assigned an individualized education program. He hadmodified testing accommodations and was allowed leniencies to spelling errors.
My brother was also placed in various inclusion classes that assist him ingetting the best learning experience based on his specific needs. As a senior,my brother has retaken his individual education program progression report andit showed that some of his accommodations could be reduced. My brother hasefficiently adapted to the curriculum with the help and assessments of hisspecial education teacher and has been able to integrate into mixed classsettings. His special education teacher had to collect the lesson plans fromhis previous teachers’ in order to figure out ways to reteach the lesson in aneffective manor so that he could better absorb it. In order to properly reteacha lesson, an educator must educate oneself on the effective ways to alter alesson to relay the same objective (“INTASC Standards”, n.d). An effectiveeducator should always remain a student within their subject of proficiency.
Oncean educator has found ways to convey an objective across the minds of a diverseclass of learners, now the challenging part is to grade them fairly. A fullyprepared teacher understands that treating and grading students fairly does notmean treating all students equally. When grading students, it is vital that ateacher does not reflect any kind of positive or negative bias the students’grades. It is in just to remember that our perceptions are not always truthfulfacts rather they are educated opinions at times. By getting to know yourstudents, it aids in the process of avoiding false judgments or accusations. Ifone of your students has constantly failed every math quiz and test throughoutthe year but has scored a 98 on their final, it is plausible to question thisscore based on what you know of this student throughout your interaction withhim/her in class. In another case if an exceptional student does exceedinglywell on all of your assigned tests and quizzes in class but fails to hand in homework.In a situation like this, you may to seek colleague help and challenge ifhe/she is having trouble at home as a reason why he/she cannot complete work athome.
In order to uphold this standard, keeping in mind ethical practices willassist in creating a clear and concise grading rubric to avoid falling short ofthe code of ethics through grading biases (“INTASC Standards”, n.d). In thecase of a false negative judgment, it is likely that a student will bedisadvantaged by a decision based upon that judgment so it is crucial to becertain and use your resources. In class, we discussed that it is possible that an effectiveteacher is just someone who has it and I fully agree.
An effective teacher hasthe whole package; which includes takings into consideration the welfare oftheir students into consideration, practical application of lessons, assessingyour students and your skills as a teacher. I have experiences all of theseattributes throughout my educational journal by some of my favorite teachers. Allof who committed to the understanding of abiding by these concepts andtheories. Their commitment towards serving and educating all learners willencourage academic excellence and family involvement throughout their lifejourneys’. References”INTASC Standards”, n.d “Danielson Rubric”, 2014-15Price, Kay M. (2019).
Planning Effective InstructionDean, C.B., Ross Hubbell, E, Pitler,H., & Stone, B.
(2012). ClassroomInstruction That Works (2nd Ed) Denver, CO: McREL International
