"We know that everything starts in learning but in different ways and in different people we encounter so that we can share it to the person to person.
Because in life it has full of mysteries that never stop teaching us."
"DREAMS has a different keys but it was also depend on us of what we gonna choose as we unlock what was behind in that doors, because in every keys it belongs to each one us and we only have to pick one."
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| Am I a 21st Century Teacher? |
- Skills that we have to acquire as a Future Teacher
Teachers As Role Models
A role model is a person who inspires and encourages us to strive for greatness, live to our fullest potential and see the best in ourselves. A role model is someone we admire and someone we aspire to be like. We learn through them, through their commitment to excellence and through their ability to make us realize our own personal growth. We look to them for advice and guidance.A role model can be anybody: a parent, a sibling, a friend but some of our most influential and life-changing role models are teachers.
“When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” — Marlene Canter, My Teacher My Hero
Teachers follow students through each pivotal stage of development. At six to eight hours a day, five days a week, you as a teacher are poised to become one of the most influential people in your students’ life. After their parents, children will first learn from you, their elementary school teacher. Then, as a middle school teacher, you will guide students through yet another important transition: adolescence. As children become young adults, learning throughout middle school and into high school, you will answer their questions, listen to their problems and teach them about this new phase of their lives. You not only watch your students grow you help them grow.
“We think of teacher-heroes that taught us the academics but we don’t often think of those teachers that taught us life’s lessons.” — Maria Wale, My Teacher My Hero
Much of what students learn from their greatest teachers is not detailed on a syllabus. Teachers who help us grow as people are responsible for imparting some of life’s most important lessons. During their initial school years, students encounter, perhaps for the first time, other children of the same age and begin to form some of their first friendships. As a teacher, you will show your students how to become independent and form their own relationships, you will carefully guide them and intervene when necessary. School is as much a place of social learning as academic learning, and this is true, not only in our early years of education, but all the way through college. Though a teacher’s influence on the social sphere of school lessens as students mature, those early lessons still have an effect on how they will interact with others in the future.
Teachers are founts of experience. They have already been where their students are going, undergone what they will go through and are in a position to pass along lessons, not only regarding subject matter, but lessons on life.
Teacher As A Leader
9 Reasons Great Teachers Make Great Leaders
1. Great teachers know how to create a strong company culture
Ask a great teacher how they create a classroom culture that inspires every student to do their best and they will be able to very clearly tell you the specific systems, structures, and social norms they implement to ensure that their classroom is filled with only excellence and joy. Great teachers bring the same ability to create a strong culture to any other organization. They know how to build the systems, structures, and norms necessary to motivate colleagues, attract talent, build community, and drive that community towards a collective mission.
2. Great teachers know how to set high expectations
Great teachers help students set big audacious goals and teach them the skills they need to accomplish those goals. When their students fail, great teachers don’t blame the student, they ask themselves, “How could I have set clearer expectations and provided better coaching and resources so that my student would have been set up for success?” These are all the marks of a great leader who sets high expectations for their colleagues, bosses, and direct reports and who helps them meet, then exceed, those expectations.
3. Great teachers prioritize what really matters
Teaching is ultimately about the long-term well-being of children five, ten, fifteen, thirty years down the line. Great teachers can sift through the thousands of things they could be doing to decide on the handful of things that truly make a difference. They also know when to sacrifice potential short-term gains on less meaningful metrics in support of their student’s long-term development. As leaders, great teachers make decisions that are in the long-term interests of their company and can properly say no to the thousands of potential distractions that do not move the company closer towards fulfilling its vision.
4. Great teachers plan purposefully
Student learning happens because great teachers very clearly plan out what skills and knowledge their students need to master in order to be successful in school and in life, how to motivate their students to master that body of knowledge and skills, and what activities will create the conditions necessary for student learning. Every moment of every day in a great teacher’s classroom is purposeful. Great teachers make great leaders that know how to plan for the success of their company’s mission and vision.
5. Great teachers execute
Teachers deliver, every day. They meet a deadline, every day. They also look at data to reflect on the strength of their execution and are unafraid to change whatever they need to in order to improve. Great teachers are great leaders who are masters of translating mission, vision and strategy into action.
6. Great teachers know how to learn constantly
Teachers become great through a process of continued development. Talk to a great teacher and you will find that he or she is always in the middle of revamping something, whether its the classroom library, grading system, or parent engagement strategies. In novel situations, great teachers become great leaders who approach work with humility and the desire to learn.
7. Great teachers persevere
Teachers who survive their first year, then thrive in subsequent years, do so because they come with or learn incredible perseverance. Unlike most professions, which place entry-level employees in positions where they are pure performers and where they have a manager who is ultimately responsible for their work, first-year teachers are immediately given the full responsibilities of their profession, thirty direct reports (aka children) to manage, and are held fully accountable for their class’s performance. Give a great teacher clear expectations for what they can accomplish, the space to learn, and the ownership to really make a difference, and they become great leaders who persevere until they get the job done.
8. Great teachers are resourceful
Teachers often work in very difficult environments, but great teachers never let that stop them from helping their students reach their goals. If funding doesn’t exist for crucial resources, teachers will raise money on sites like DonorsChoose.org or advocate for changes in funding priorities. If they need to learn more about a subject matter, they connect with experts in those fields. If some bureaucracy doesn’t work for their students, great teachers learn how to navigate around it. Great teachers are great leaders who never let an obstacle stop them from reaching their goals, they just find a way to creatively sidestep, reimagine, or drill their way through.
9. Great teachers empathize
Great teachers understand the socioemotional needs of their students and their students’ family members. They know that people need to feel safe, and loved, and calm, in order to learn and grow. When students struggle, great teachers engage in deep collaborative problem-solving to help get them on the right track, whether the solution is ultimately a new pair of glasses so the students can see the board, a heart-to-heart that helps the student feel safe, or a note-taking strategy that helps the student process his or her learning. Great teachers are great leaders who will be similarly empathetic with their colleagues and employees. You know a great leader by the people they impact, just like you know a great teacher by the lives of the students they’ve taught.
The Visionary
Imagination, a key component of adaptability, is a crucial component of the educator of today and tommorow. They must see the potential in the emerging tools and web technologies, grasp these and manipulate them to serve their needs. If we look at the technologies we currently see emerging, how many are developed for education?The visionary teacher can look at others ideas and envisage how they would use these in their class.
The visionary also looks across the disciplines and through the curricula. They can make links that reinforce and value learning in other areas, and leverage other fields to reinforce their own teaching and the learning of their students.
9 Useful Skills for Teachers
While teaching can certainly be a challenge, it is also one of the most rewarding careers out there. Check out some of the useful skills for teachers to see if there are any areas you need to work on before you become one:
Patience
This is likely the single most important skill. Kids these days are stubborn, and many lack the inherent respect for authority that we were taught at a young age. Spending a single day in a room full of raucous teenagers is enough to send any human being to the looney bin, which is why every good teacher needs patience in order to find a way to work with his students and earn their respect.
Adaptability
Different kids learn in different ways, and some lessons need unique teaching tools. Good teachers know how to adapt their lesson plan to their students, so that all the kids learn optimally. This trait can take some experience and practice in a classroom setting, so give it time.
Imagination
Whether you teach high school chemistry or kindergarten, nothing is a more effective tool than using your imagination to create new and interesting ways for your students to learn. You may be inspired by the work of another teacher, mentor or a TV commercial - it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you take the initiative to find new ways for your kids to learn the material.
Teamwork
Teachers could have a hard time without a wide variety of support staff around them. If you feel alone, your school principal, administrative staff, parent-teacher committee, and more are often available to provide you help. By working as a team, you may have an easier time increasing your students' ability to learn and have fun.
Risk Taking
Sometimes to get the big reward, you may need to take a risk. Being a teacher is about finding a way to get kids to learn, and sometimes these new learning methods can be risky. Stick to it and you'll soon find that others are following your teaching example.
Constant Learning
You can never know too much when you are a teacher, especially when it comes to the best way to teach your students. Great teachers are constantly looking for ways to expand their horizons with courses, workshops, and seminars. Make sure you don't become stagnant by taking courses to keep the content fresh in your mind.
Communication
No teacher will succeed if they don't have good communication skills. Clear, concise, and to the point - the better your communication skills are, the easier your lessons will be. There are many different types of classes available to help some teachers who may need help improving their skills.
Mentoring
Teachers need to always remember that, aside from parents, they are one of the most consistent mentors in a child's life. That means setting a good example, at all times. Teachers may also have students that they spend extra time with being a mentor, which means that being a good role model is even more important.
Leadership
One of the other most important skills each teacher must have (besides patience) is leadership. Your students need someone to guide them, to be in charge, and set the tone of the class. Leadership is a difficult skill, meaning you may want to get outside help if you feel that you could use more work on this particular skill, or any other for that matter.
