Observing Effective Teachers

Action #8

School has been an integral part of my life for the past sixteen years. Since I spend more than half of every year in some type of educational institution, I have had ample opportunity to observe teachers and their various instructional methods. As an aspiring effective teacher, this type of observational learning proves to be invaluable and will no doubt benefit both myself and my future students.

While in college, I have had the privilege to enter into several different social studies classrooms in local public schools and both watch and occasionally teach alongside the teachers working there. During my first field placement my first year of college, I observed an elderly teacher who exhibited great care and patience towards his students. He frequently encouraged them to keep on persevering in their studies, reminding them of their value and potential. In order to make all his students feel appreciated and proud of their heritage, regardless of their ethnicity or economic status, he assigned students a project that allowed them to present about their family and cultures for the whole class. The students respected this particular teacher and behaved respectfully towards him. I, too, hope to emulate these practices that make my students feel loved and appreciated for who they are.

Though observations like the one described in the previous paragraph have most certainly been helpful, I find that the most useful observing occurs in classroom settings in which I am actually one of the students. Not only do I gain a better sense of the overall classroom dynamics, but I am able to gauge how effective the teacher’s methods truly are. I have had several wonderful professors at Goshen College, but since I plan on teaching at the middle school and/or high school level upon completion of my teaching degree, I would like to briefly describe one of my secondary school teachers who left a profound impact on me.

My middle school math and science teacher, Miss Morriss, clearly exhibited many important qualities of an effective teacher. She effectively managed the classroom with the right balance of sternness and grace, encouraging and challenging students to continue in their studies and infusing just the right amount of fun and creativity into her lessons. She taught us little jingles to help us remember math equations and planned hands-on science experiments whenever possible, thoroughly engaging us in the class material. I still rely on her “Area of a Circle” song to help solve simple geometric problems. She implemented a type of token economy (“Morriss Dollars”) that provided students with an appropriate amount of extrinsic motivation to both persevere with class work and behave well in class. She succeeded in making teaching challenging and yet fun, taking every student into account when planning the lessons. Even though I dislike math, I enjoyed her classes because of the creativity displayed in lessons, the patience she took in explaining concepts, and the love she showed her students. When I become a teacher, I hope my classroom contains all of these elements. Until that time, however, I will continue observing effective teachers and continue my studies in the hopes of one day becoming one myself.