A Good Teacher Needs to Be...

    According to Chapter 1, there are FIVE different QUALITIES that all teachers need to have in order to be successful. In this blog post I will be doing a self-reflection and deciding if these are traits that I already possess, or if they are things I need to learn to have. I know that in all of these things, even if I do have the traits already, I will be working to improve myself to be better in them because there is always room for improvement. So, what are these five traits? A good teacher needs to be committed, caring, courageous, conscious, and centered. 

    

    Let's start with COMMITED, as someone who decided to go back to school at the age of 34 while working fulltime in the local school system, with a disabled husband and three kids, and literally starting from scratch with my college education, I have worked very hard to get to where I am today in my education. I feel that I can say I am committed to not only my education though, because during all of that I have continued working in a Learning Center and while loving the kiddos in our classroom and doing my best to make everyday a great day for them. Sometimes I have to convince myself that I am not letting my kids down, but I know that I am not, this week alone I have taken them to three football games (and none of them play football), all of their church events, the oldest to band practice multiple times and out with her boyfriend to the moves, as well as hosted a slumber party for the middle schooler. 

    Every day I try to show that I CARE through the way I interact with the students at school, I work breakfast in the lunchroom so that I can be the first face they see and make sure they have a constant. While I know I put conscious effort into this, I know this is something that I could always improve. 

    Being COURAGEOUS in the world of Special Education is a feet. Sometimes the days go smoothly, sometimes you get decked because of a wonky sock, courage to keep working for the better students no matter your feelings in the moment can be hard. While I know that I am in it for the long haul, I also know that there are days I struggle and could work on this. 

    CONSCIOUS effort put into your interactions with your students, other staff members, and even peers in school can make or break you as a teacher. Being mindful of what you say and do, your reactions to everything, while it can all be exhausting, are vitally important. I do put effort into this but also sometimes have to take a walk to recenter myself before entering back into a situation. 

    This leaves with the final trait of being CENTERED. As I previously stated, there are times I have to take a walk to recenter myself. This will be something I think I will always work on but know it is also okay to need a second sometimes. 

    All of these traits build not only a wonderful teacher but an EXCEPTIONAL PERSON!