Most people can remember a teacher they had growing up that they consider a “good” teacher. I have heard many different stories from friends and other teachers about their experiences, and all of their stories have commonalities. One important thing that these stories had in common was that the teacher showed empathy for them as a person and not just a student, as well as attempted to understand their learning style. Showing empathy for your students helps immensely because it builds trust, and the investment that a teacher puts into getting to know their students, give them a better chance at succeeding in their class. Kids learn in different ways, and not all teachers are as good at adjusting their teaching styles and lessons to insure that all students succeed. I have shared with many of my friends what my teachers were like in Jr. High. These years stand out to me because I had a lot going on in my family life, which affected my ability to focus and learn in class. I was fortunate enough to have a lot of good teachers, that took the time to get to know me and helped me stay focused and on track in class. One teacher in particular really helped me in Jr. High, he was my science teacher Mr. Isaacson. I really struggled in science, so if he did not take the time to breakdown the material for me after class, I do not think I would have passed Biology. It took a lot of extra work, and I scraped by with a C+. The time he took to help me, allowed me to stay focused and not get discouraged. He never made me feel like I wasn’t smart or that I couldn’t succeed. Which brings me to the next commonality that I hear a lot from stories that I think is worth mentioning…

Most people say that the teacher they really liked challenged them in class, and kept the students engaged. It is important to teach the curriculum, but when a teacher is passionate about students learning, they will do more than regurgitate what it says in the book. Most good teachers allow the students to openly ask questions. Having an open discussion can help to get them interested in the material rather than just lecture to them and then expect them to test well and remember the information later. It can be very helpful for students (like myself) to openly discuss the material with other classmates and out loud with the teacher. Open discussions and group work can help students retain the information, and really understand the material when the teacher connects it to real life. For some quieter students, group work can help them open up and participate, rather than being put on the spot in front of the entire class. Group work can also help those students who may not have understood the material right away and were too nervous to ask a question in front of the class.

I think any teacher can be a “good” teacher by practicing these things in their classroom. And, it is never too late to change!

As educators, when we think about our own experience with teachers it is understandable that we would generally want to emphasize the positive over the negative.  We all hopefully want to be a positive influence on our students and would naturally cultivate memories of the teachers who supported and guided us in the way that we see ourselves.  I would argue that it is just as important to remember our negative experiences with teachers in our past, for we often learn more from negative experiences than the positive.  For this reason I would like to discuss some of the negative experiences I had with teachers from the past and how I have drawn lessons from these experiences for my own teaching.

In my 5th grade year, I had the first male teacher of my academic career.  Far from the caring, pseudo-motherly styles of my previous teachers, Mr. Grycel demonstrated a no nonsense, by the book style of classroom management.  Students were expected to pay attention at all times, always have their assignments in on the due date, and keep clean tidy desks.  Admittedly, 10 year old me had trouble with every aspect of this, as would be expected of any young preteen boy.  I wouldn’t put much effort into lessons I didn’t personally find interesting, would turn in homework sporadically, and had a desk which resembled a trash pile more than an organized work space.  Rather than try different teaching strategies, or attempting to talk about the reasons for my lack of effort, Mr. Grycel would instead keep me during lunch or after class nearly every day to lecture and berate me on my performance.  On one occasion, he threatened to give me an official reprimand for crying.  On another occasion, despite my telling him earlier in the day that I had to leave right at the bell in order for my brother to catch an important flight, he nonetheless made me stay after school to clean out my desk over 5 times, throwing all of my supplies on the floor after each attempt and saying, “Not good enough, do it again.”  Indeed, for years to come, I had a general fear of authority figures, though in the present I attempt to use my 5th grade experiences to make my own teaching style more positive and inclusive.  I try to understand that many students in the middle school age bracket fall behind and act out not from a sense of malicious intent, but rather often due to social and familial factors outside of their control.  Similarly, students falling behind due to a lack of motivation or interest are not going to be made to learn through mockery or berating their performance.  Teachers need to adapt and readapt their lesson plans, often multiple times for a single class, to ensure that their students are given every chance to succeed, not simply given a single path which they are forced down regardless of ability.

Teachers have come a long way in terms of keeping up with modern and innovative teaching techniques and approaches to their roles of being a good teacher. Back in the day, teaching was not thought of as a craft, but merely a series of scripted documents for teachers to relay to their students without any say or freedom in what they were teaching. Considering how far the teaching field has come since then, it is not surprising that now the idea of teaching has become far more intriguing to college graduates! Teachers now, depending on whether they are in a public school or not, have the mobility to recently reform as a result of wanting to foster creativity. Many teachers are now able to give students positions of responsibility in order to give them the ability to make individual decisions and solve problems. Their focus has shifted from making leaders instead of employees. Common Core views students as resources for the job market, not as individuals. It is about time us teachers focus on producing good vs. smart students and how most basic kinds of moral knowledge are significantly lacking in today’s society. We all are aware that testing places too much emphasis on scores, focusing on procedural learning instead of conceptual learning. The next generation must be able to make moral decisions and be innovative in order for our nation to continue to succeed. Along with making moral decisions and supporting innovation in the classroom comes with teachers supporting their students as they pursue their own interests. This is a HUGE deal because previous generations in school, including mine, rarely if ever had a say in what was being taught in the classroom. Now, I am not suggesting that students be in charge of all curriculum taught and produced, but that their abilities as natural seekers are both encouraged and engaged. The purpose behind this is not only for students to actually enjoy what they are learning in school (shocker!) but to connect to real-life problems and enable them to affirm their right to a place in the world. I think the big question for teachers with these is, “How can I support my children?” Well, a great start to achieving this is by recognizing and building on children’s strengths, cultivating their skills, interests and passions, and most importantly, having them plan to be someone from an EARLY age in our community! The last big topic I want to discuss when it comes to embodying a progressive educator in the 21st century is by teaching the difficult and tangled truths. What I mean by teaching the difficult and tangled truths is that we must stop teaching a falsified history so that history will hopefully cease to repeat itself (i.e. segregation, nazi Germany, etc.) Diversity classes help students to become more aware of their own racial biases, white privilege, and increase comfortability discussing racial issues. Teachers are achieving this in the classroom by allowing for more open classroom discussions, promoting inclusivity and safe learning environments and by straying away from traditional curriculum. The ultimate way teachers are becoming labeled as super “progressive” is by their way of teaching outside of the box and fostering new ways of teaching every year rather than reusing the same materials and teaching tactics year after year after year….trust us it gets old teachers.

The Truth About Teaching
Josh Flexman

Teachers must constantly make choices about how to deal with authentic teaching opportunities. As I spend more and more time in classrooms and around elementary school campus’, I find myself constantly wondering how many important missed opportunities are building up. One of the things that seems to get in the way is the fear of making people uncomfortable. Teaching is one of the most difficult professions, because the “right answer” or “best practice” changes in every scenario. We have been learning thus far, the importance of valuing each student for their gifts and talents. If every student is different, the teacher must be trained on how to constantly make adjustments.
The truth is, teachers need to remind themselves what their goal is. We need teachers that are primarily interested in creating dynamic critical thinkers for the next generation. I keep hearing politicians talking about the educational situation we are in as a nation, and how it needs fixing. What then is our goal? If something needs to be fixed, then it is implied it is not effectively doing its job. We need to have an honest discussion about what the job of K-12 school really is.
The most common reasoning for needing schools and educators is preparing young people for their own future. At its core, teaching is a profession of service in which we intend to help our students to grow. Growth requires evolving as does the world around us. Growth is the ability to change and adapt to the inevitably changing world around us. Resisting change because it is inconvenient or uncomfortable robs future generations of the things we were privileged with. When as a nation we(adults/government) are giving our youth the impression that we do NOT have things figured out at all. Things like wealth inequality, school prison pipelines, natural habitat loss, and social injustices that cause lost lives, are the types issues the youth needs to hear us talking about.
My thinking is that we have an obligation to these young people to teach them the TRUTH about the world they are about to inherit. When students know that their teachers are being authentic with them about their shared goals, they will open up more, and become more receptive. I have seen it with my own eyes so many times. When a student feels their teacher is genuine in their position as a leader, they will happily follow. This is easier said than done, and I believe it must be the thing most emphasized in teacher preparation programs. There should be training and incentives to improve.
What might the incentives for improvement in the profession of teaching look like? Well for starters I think teaching needs to require an advanced degree IN TEACHING. Why can one become a teacher online in a few months, but becoming a doctor takes a decade? The value that assigns to teachers is too low comparatively. We need the world to know that our teachers are experts and they love what they do. Bigger paychecks are not enough. There needs to be a progressive curve to the compensation (like other advanced professions). Why can teachers not rely on raises and merit based increases??

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