Someone asked me today, what would be my #1 advice for a future teacher. Without much consideration, “know one’s self” jumped to my mind. Easy to say, but hard to explain. As a teacher we are confronted the four main ingredients to effective instruction: curriculum, instruction, classroom management, and relationships. These are VAST subject areas that cover a wide variety of topics, approaches, philosophies, etc. It’s easy to get lost in our pursuit in mastering these various areas – real easy.
Staying true to “who you are” is at the core of becoming a great teacher, creating a certain point of reference of where you are, where you should go, and how will you get there. Often we envy that engaging teacher across the hall, try to emulate their classroom persona or instructional strategies, only to find that we struggle and our efforts fail. I suggest you don’t conform, but adjust. Go back to your core and reflect on how you – as a unique person – connect best with students, the curriculum, and instruction. These findings are what you need to leverage to becoming a dynamic and authentic teacher.
