Week 6- Chapter 7

1. I really liked all of the bullet points, but here are a few I really connected with!

• Effective teachers spend a great deal of time working and interacting directly with students.

In my experience as a student, I have found that when my teacher spends time with me and interacts directly with me, I develop a sense of high respect and interest in the topic they are teaching me. When I can ask them questions and they answer me and explain to me why, what they are telling me is important, I connect and become more engaged in what they have to offer me. I want to be the effective teacher that spends time working and interacting directly with my students because they deserve to feel that same sense of understanding for what and why they are being taught the curriculum that I am giving them as their teacher.

• Effective teachers clearly identify learning goals and link them with activities designed to ensure student mastery of the goals.

It is such a difficult task to make certain all students acquire mastery of each subject that is being taught. I have found it very frustrating at times when I am planning to create ways to test students for their mastery of the topic. Sometimes I feel like I don't know what to do to find out if what I have taught them has "sunken in." Despite my worry, which I understand is a worry for many new teachers, I love the task of getting a learning goal and trying to find good activities to link with that goal to create a lesson plan. Sometimes they do not always go perfectly well and then it takes a little bit of reflection and revision, but the process, experience and challenge make it worth the effort.

• Effective teachers set high expectations for themselves and their students with an orientation toward growth and improvement evident in the classroom.

I have high expectations for myself and do hold high expectations for those that I teach, whether it be dance or school or scouts. I love to observe in a class when growth occurs and students make improvements. I believe that making these improvements in the classroom is the only way to progress, so I will make sure to hold appropriate expectations for each of my students according to their developmental abilities in different subjects.

• Effective teachers accept responsibility for student outcomes

The harsh reality of teaching is that what you teach and what the students get out of it depends primarily on the way you prepare, the enthusiasm you have for the topic, and the classroom community that has been created in the classroom. I understand that if I am not on top of these different traits that my students may not achieve the best outcomes. I also realize that if I can do my job at 150% that my students, no matter their differing levels, will leave my class with a greater understanding of the curriculum and life skills in general.

2. I loved the metaphor about McNulty's mother's gravy. I loved that the emphasis on this metaphor was that "she learned over who knows how much time that making the gravy was a representation of herself--that the task had dignity and possibilities beyond her initial recognition of the.. There is no recipe for love...she gave herself to it. She lost herself in it..." and it didn't happen overnight but through a process (p. 92). I connected with this entirely because sometimes I feel so overwhelmed that I cannot do everything that the "great" teachers do. I know though that it takes time to accumulate all of the knowledge and experience needed to be one of those teachers. Most importantly however, I need to make certain that I just keep my heart in my creation and my work! That is most important.