Becoming a Better Teacher

How do you become a better teacher?

That is a great question. I am sure you won’t be surprised if I suggest that self-care is a large part of that answer but what are other ways to improve your craft?

Teaching requires such a diverse set of skills – that is teaching’s beauty and its curse. You need to be able to connect with students, empower them to take risks, authentically praise them, foster their talents, help them with their weaknesses and walk the thin line between learning and grading. You need to be able to build a community in your classroom, show your students you are invested in their success, enhance their learning and encourage them to become independent learners.

In addition to that, you need to keep a gradebook (sometimes a public one), publish a schedule, make and grade assessments, communicate with parents, go to meetings and attend professional development events. This doesn’t even mention the brownies you need to make for the class that finally had 100% homework participation or the bulletin board you designed and created to display your students’ goals for the last month of school.

Teaching is a job that covers just about everything and anything you can think of to help students learn and grow. And, as good as we are, we can always be better. So, what can you focus on to improve your teaching?

You could choose an area you struggle with and work to make improvements. Or, you could focus on something that interests you and bring that passion into the classroom. Both approaches are needed but what fits your current season? Do you want to be self-reflective and examine areas in your teaching that need improvement or do you want to chase a desire?

As for me? I’m choosing to chase a passion and keep writing, hoping you will write back. Collaborating with other teachers is how I improve my own practice. Now, I invite you to think about your next steps. What will you do to grow this season? Let me know in the comments, or send me an email— kmcdowell256@gmail.com or kim@fallbackinlovewithteaching.blog. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading! kim