Build-A-Classroom-Family

What makes a great teacher? There are some set decided upon characteristics that “make” for a great teacher, things like enthusiasm, creativity, humor, resilience, and other traits like these. While I feel like these things make for a good teacher there are more as well. A teacher needs to be loving, be stern, have common sense, and be flexible. Life in a school can be wonderful but also wild. 
   When it comes to my personal strengths, I believe that my creativity, compassion, and common sense are vital in a classroom environment. I feel that I can be such an asset in any school with the way I think outside of the box and can come up with different solutions to the same problems we face over and over again. I can mix things up and create new adventures for the kids, new ways to look at the learning, and hopefully break through some barriers that hold back some of our more challenging students. 
    By playing into the student's strengths and giving them jobs that go with their talents, it makes everyone invested in the classroom and all of our successes. Have the child who is early and chipper in the morning help get the chairs down and turn all the lights on, have the child who stays the latest put the chairs up and turn the lights off. What about the kid who tries to fall asleep before lunch? Have them help get everything ready for lunch; collect the lunch cards, get out the germ-x, get the basket for lunch boxes. There are plenty of jobs you can come up with to make a classroom feel like a community and a family. 
   All-in-all, I believe that my strengths and weaknesses make me who I am. My biggest goal in life is to not burn out before I get to do all the good things I want to do. I want to be able to have my own classroom, help kiddos have breakthroughs, help families with challenging moments, create new classroom communities and families, as well as make a difference, if even just for one kid.