In college, my music professor said that “a good teacher is expendable.” While this may sound counterproductive for the progression of education, this is truly what a makes an effective teacher. A great teacher teaches their students to think for themselves. A great teacher also emphasizes not only high expectations in academics, but also cooperative learning, compassion, and generosity. Other morals that a student should learn in the classroom of an effective teacher would be courage, responsibility, and accountability. Curiosity is vital to the concept of being a “lifelong learner”; yet another important message for teachers to convey to their young students.
One of the most important things I will teach my students are “life lessons”. Aside from academic achievement and social experiences, schools and educators should help their students to be compassionate and accepting towards one another, no matter what their individual beliefs, values, or opinions. I want to instill in my students the desire to be compassionate, helpful and generous to others, especially at an early age, so these qualities can grow and progress with time and practice. One thing I will do is to direct the children work together in groups, which would inspire cooperative learning. This would provide them with plenty of opportunities to cooperate, delegate, appreciate other ideas, and help each other out with challenges. Through participating in group work, I expect my students to evaluate their own individual strengths and weaknesses so that they can learn to excel and compensate when necessary.
Along with life lessons comes morality. I want my students to be brave enough to do something that is generally outside their comfort zone, like reading aloud or reciting a poem in front of the class. We learn things about ourselves by taking risks and doing things we wouldn’t normally do. I also want to teach my students how to stand up for themselves and their beliefs, and to defend these beliefs effectively. I want to introduce reason and argumentative logic to my elementary students. They need to know what it means to be the bigger person, and thus, to be accountable for their own actions, or lack of action, whatever the case may be. As a teacher, I will show my students true responsibility and the possible consequences when they choose not to be responsible. I expect them to demonstrate these qualities every day, in and outside the classroom.
Another essential lesson that I desire to teach my students is the concept of being “lifelong learners”. Along with continuing to learn throughout one’s life comes the worth and importance of curiosity. I want to reiterate to my students that it is not usually satisfactory merely to accept new information or knowledge as it is given. I need to encourage them to wonder why things are such, and how they came to be the way they are. If teachers can provide their students with a strong foundation, the students can learn to “teach” themselves, and they can continue their quest for knowledge outside the classroom. I expect that their curiosity will persist after they go home, advance in their education, and build their own paths in life. This is what it means to be a lifelong learner.
As an elementary teacher, I will have much responsibility. That includes being responsible for the future of my students, especially when it comes to how they view education. I am not afraid to push myself. I also want to inspire my young students to do the same. The main goal of my teaching is, ideally, that my students need to be absolutely confident that they can succeed at whatever they set out to accomplish.
