Great Teachers

Sensei is a Japanese form of address for someone who has earned a certain level of respect; often a teacher. Some teachers deserve high honor; some don't. I rarely hear from any of my kids teachers and guess I just assume that no news is good news. It led me to wonder what makes a great teacher?

I found out on Friday that I received the high honor of being singled out as a faculty member who has made a difference in the life of a student athlete. If only something wonderful like that happened everyday to remind me how much my job means to me, and even more important, how much my job affects young people. It really is all about the kids.

Feeling great about teaching makes me evaluate and reflect on my performance as a teacher. I decided to assess how I've been doing this year and went to the internet to see what various sites said about what it takes to be a great teacher.
Greatschools.org says this:

A. Great teachers set high expectations for all students.

B. Great teachers have clear, written-out objectives.

C. Great teachers are prepared and organized.

D. Great teachers engage students and get them to look at issues in a variety of ways.

E. Great teachers form strong relationships with their students and show that they care about them as people.

F. Great teachers are masters of their subject matter.

G. Great teachers communicate frequently with parents.

It feels good to know that I do pretty darn well at every single one of these, although I think I could do better when it comes to organization and communicating with parents. Organization has never been my strong point and I knew it would be a problem for me in the classroom. I'm working toward doing better at filing and finding appropriate places for everything. As far as communicating with parents, it doesn't thrill me to call parents, but I realize it is an important part of my job. This week I aim to call seven parents. That's one parent per day - I can do that.

Waiting for the Thaw

About this time, in the state of Wisconsin, we have had enough of winter. We are waiting for the thaw; the end of the chill; waiting for warmth to restore our landscape and our hearts. I'll admit I've become restless, I've been short with my beloved, and I need to apologize for that. Last night I felt bad for myself after a long car ride in bad winter weather with two impatient teenagers in the vehicle. I had already forgotten the breathtaking physical beauty of the day before, when I snapped this picture from the passenger seat of the car. Now I was having my own personal pity party and all I wanted was a bath. When my boyfriend didn't react the way I wanted him to on the phone, it ticked me off and made me pull away from him, but then something in me clicked. I realized that I didn't need to pull away - I needed to pull him closer. I decided I would make it a point to see what he needed from me; what I could do for him; how I could make his life better with me in it. So I asked him what I could do to lighten his load this week, told him I knew he'd been stressed out with teaching and coaching, and mentioned that I wanted to make him smile because when he was happy, I was happy. It didn't seem to sway him much last night, but then, this morning, I saw remarkable changes in him - changes I believe I would not have seen had I stayed on my course of nit picking and pouting about why he wasn't reacting the way I had hoped. Tonight we have made plans for a romantic night together. Yippeee! We both win!