5 Things I Learned This Semester That Will Prepare Me To Be an Exceptional Educator
Kaylee Fry
1. Roll with the Flow!: Throughout this semester, I have learned that an exceptional educator is always flexible. This means to be flexible in planning, in instruction, and in reflection of your methods. Everything will not always go as planned, and as an educator you must persevere and do what is best for your classroom.
2. Technology, Technology, Technology!: I have loved learning how to be a 21st Century Teacher this semester. A major part of being a teacher in today's world includes using technology. A teacher must incorporate outlets for introducing students to their digital citizenship and technological creativity. Technology must give students an outlet to create their own ideas and express their thoughts.
3. Reflection-> Growth!: In order to be a better version of yourself, you must reflect on the decisions you make. This applies wholeheartedly in becoming an effective teacher. I have learned how to think about my decisions and how I carry myself inside and outside the classroom in order to foster the positives and change the negatives I perceive. I want to continually grow, and to do so I must reflect.
4. Quality Questioning is Quality Answers!: This semester I have so enjoyed deep diving into the Quality Questioning book. This text has helped me evaluate the way I ask questions and provide feedback in so many ways. I now purposefully try to formulate meaningful questions that encourage learning through discovery, and not learning through right or wrong answers. Every student is capable of learning, it's the teachers job to reach the students on their own level.
5. Relationships will get you through!: Despite all of the meaningful information that I have learned this semester, the most significant is the relationships you hold inside and outside the classroom. Teachers must foster meaningful relationships with their students before any learning can begin, A student can not learn if they do not feel safe and loved. This also applies to the relationships a teacher makes with other teachers. Collaboration is key to becoming a school teacher and not a classroom teacher. In all, the most important job a teacher holds is forming relationships that will foster learning with their students.
