Experience Summary
I am a firm believer that it takes someone special to be a teacher. A good teacher must be empathetic towards student needs, have a good sense of humor, and exceptional communication skills. Communication skills are not limited to inside the classroom. A good teacher must be able to talk to parents, administration, and other staff members. It is their job to make the classroom a safe and welcoming environment where academics are the main focus. They must be willing to motivate even the students who are the hardest to reach with astounding knowledge of their content area, but also with a great personality. These skills are never truly mastered, a good teacher always wants to find new ways to excel at their job.
Teaching Style
When you enter a classroom it is like entering a mixing bowl full of different ability levels, motivation levels, talent, and skill. It is the teacher’s job to address each one of their students as an individual to assess what their strengths and weaknesses are. I believe in data driven assessments, but also in getting to know a student personally. The students know what they are good and not good at. They will be honest most of the time if they are comfortable with you. I believe in differentiation to the highest degree and practiced this in my alternative high school experience every single day. It is not fair to bore some students with information they already know and overwhelm others to the point of lowering their self esteem. To address each skill level is to know your students personally and academically.