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“Good Morning, class.  Please sit down, stay in your seats, keep your voices quiet, keep your hands and feet within the confines of your desk and pay attention.  Also, ignore the buzzing of the fluorescent lights, the birds flying by the window and the fifth graders next door that seem to be having a hoedown.  Now, is everyone ready to learn?!” 

To many children, sitting in the classroom is as scary as a first ride on a commercial airliner or a ride on the Hades roller coaster at Mt. Olympus in the Wisconsin Dells.  They don’t know what to expect and are sure that whatever is coming next means instant death.  Learning how to reach your students (and calm their fears) as an effective teacher is a purposeful process of learning to value each child, to respect their differences and to invest yourself and be there for each student.

Guy Doud, the 1986 National Teacher of the Year recipient, said that one way to be an effective teacher was to value your students.  It is important to remember that each child is a unique individual with his or her own set of hopes and dreams and own set of challenges.  For example, in third grade, Jacob may be built like a linebacker and carry himself with great bravado, but in all actuality he really loves art and expresses himself best when drawing and sculpting.  As his teacher, did you notice this about him?

Another important skill to develop to be an effective teacher is to respect the differences in your students. Not all people come in the same size, shape, color, and ability level, nor do they come with the same set of instructions. While it may be fine to joke around with and tease Sara, Halle is very sensitive and is hurt by similar treatment. It will be important to learn how each child thinks and responds to you, the teacher, as a person.

Another important trait is for a teacher is to be fully invested in all of the students.  This is not a job where you can just show up, put in your eight hours and go home.  To be an effective teacher, you must arrive everyday with your game face on and ready to be there for your kids.  That means you put aside your own personal agenda for the day and give yourself 100 percent to your classroom.  If I went to work in an office on Monday and I was not very motivated to be there, chances are I could hide in my cubicle and slug through my day without being noticed nor affecting anyone else.  However, that attitude and strategy will not work in the classroom with 22 faces looking to you for direction, correction and attention.

It takes an enormous amount of energy to be a teacher.  The hours are long, the pay is so-so, and the students range from effervescent to combative.  Further, not all teachers are very good at what they do.  The skills needed to help your students succeed are many and varied, but if you can find the value in each child, appreciate each one’s differences and give your students all you have, I think you are on your way to growing into an effective teacher.

Margaret Andersen is the mother of three teenagers and is a middle school teacher somewhere in the Midwest.  She is a regular ShareWIK.com columnist. For more Margaret Anderson articles, click here. 

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