What makes Great Teaching?

 Top 5 Tools for success from Public Education Multicultural Society 

1. Blogging with other educators.

  • This strategy was beneficial because I was able to see my peer's viewpoints and thoughts on important subjects that we covered.

2. Social Media.

  • This was one of my favorite ways to analyze issues in the education world in an informal way. Doing this helped with connecting ideas to real-life instances and seeing that you are not the only one who feels a certain way about things being done in the education world.

3. Reading and Writing poetry to express ideas.

  • I especially loved this tool when analyzing poetry in the modules. Being able to look at someone else's work and pull your own conclusions from the work they had produced and create another poem from it helped when critically thinking about what was said.

4. Do's and Don'ts 

  • This wasn't one of my absolute favorites but it helped when analyzing text. Looking at the text and pulling things that I thought were do's and don'ts helped me think about what was essential to use in the classroom and to think about as an educator.

5. Self-Assessment.

  • This is an important tool in any aspect of life. You have to be able to constantly review yourself and your work in an honest manner. This helps you be the best you can possibly be and to be the best for your students and co-workers.

This is my top 5 list of tools for success from this class. I think that all of these tools really show different techniques that you can use to be a great teacher. While I have a top 5, I think that all of these tools should be used together. I don't think that one tool or strategy that you use makes you a great teacher or great at anything for that matter. I think everything in life requires balance, and this includes teaching. It requires you to have a level head, an empathetic heart, and the desire to continue learning and adapting to new things or ways of thinking. Great teaching isn't just about what you know, it's about your experiences and how you can guide your students to be productive members of society and to be true to their beliefs. In my opinion, there is not one thing that makes great teaching, it is a culmination of so many different aspects, and to be a great teacher, you have to be able to open yourself up to new perspectives and be willing to aid your students in whatever they may need.

Comments

  1. Hey Priya! First, I loved how aesthetically pleasing your blog was this week- it is so cute! Second, I love how our list of top five strategies was completely different. We did not have one similar, and I think that that is so significant. Being able to see just how important each and every one of these strategies was and seeing how each individual perceived them differently and approached them differently is awesome. Noticing how the reading and writing poetry to express ideas was helpful and consequential to you and not as much to me, gives us, as future educators, the opportunity to incorporate all of them and make them go hand-in-hand. I like how you mentioned that they should all be used together, because great teaching has a foundation of consideration of perspectives and the emphasis of being comfortable in something that may be uncomfortable. This was a great post, thanks you for sharing!

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    1. Thank you, I really worked hard on making it look pretty! I appreciate that you agree with my statement that all should be used together because I think a combination of things makes for great teaching. Thank you for your response.

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  2. Hi Priya! I agree with Taylor, this post was very aesthetically pleasing and cute! I am surprised by how different our top-5 lists are, but that made it more fun to read about! I similarly chose the DOs and DONTs lists on mine, it's interesting that you didn't enjoy it that much. I like your comments at the end, I agree that all of the strategies we did in this class shaped us to become great teachers. It's important to learn a variety of skills in order to make teaching interesting and fun for our students. Your comment on the self-assessment was very accurate, I also enjoyed that assignment because it is really important as a student, or teacher, to hold ourselves accountable. Sometimes we do not reach all the requirements or do something to the bet of our ability, and that's okay. It's important that we point out those mistakes and learn from them in order to grow. Like you said, teaching is not about knowing one skill, it is about a combinations of strategies that we can use to help our students be successful in their futures. Great post!

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    1. Hi Mallorie! Thanks for your response. I think it is important to give ourselves some grace because we have to do so much that we cannot possibly do it all perfectly. I am glad that you and I see things the same way in regards to not only taking one approach but using all of the skills we have learned in a combination.

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  3. Hey there Priya, I agree with many of your points straight off the bat. Social media is extremely influential in our current world, especially since more and more kids have access to technology. I agree with what you wrote about how social media provides educators with insight because new ideas and new methods of teaching that get discovered can be instantly shared with other educators. With how readily widespread and available social media is, there is also a good chance that students will see these ideas and perhaps adopt new ways of thinking. Another point you made that I agree with would be self assessments In general, the majority of humans don't take self reflections or even relax to think about how their day was and ways they could've made the day. I think educators should be one of the people who should self reflect the most. As in educator, your job is to be directly involved with student development, so taking the time to double and check your methods are working is crucial to ensure the best scenario for your students

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    1. Hi Andera. I am glad that we agree that social media is influential in our world and in our careers. I think it is important to mix this in with our lessons so that we can relate to our students on a level that they will appreciate. I also liked your comment about self assessments, it is a difficult skill to learn and I only learned it once I got to college. Being able to look at ways that you do things and correct them is important. Thank you for your response!

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