Lesson 1.1: What do great teachers do differently?

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Education Department
SUNY Oneonta via LumenLearning

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What do great teachers do differently?

Think about your favorite teacher – a teacher that you learned a great deal from, who helped you to develop your potential or who made you feel at home in the classroom. What characteristics did this teacher have which allowed you to learn, be comfortable, or grow?

Self Reflection

Do I embody some of the same characteristics?
What do I need to do to display more of these characteristics?

WHY TEACH?

As we examine the characteristics of teachers in our school experience, it is likely we will see correlations between the student-teacher relationship and our performance or lack of ease in the classroom. As we look at teaching through this lens, we come to understand that teaching content is only one aspect of the teacher role. Creating an emotionally caring and educationally supportive environment in our classroom can give us an advantage in engaging students for learning.

The following TED Video is presented by Ms. Rita Pierson. Ms. Pierson is an inspiring former teacher who has a philosophy that all students can learn, and that a teacher can lift students to heights they never thought they could achieve. This presentation focuses on practical success and failure resulting from classroom relationships. Often pre-service teachers believe that they are preparing for a career that will require them only to teach the content. However, as teachers, we cannot shy away from the fact that we also teach complex human beings.