In my own experiences, the most effective teachers are those who care for their students, while still providing structure within the classroom. This is a broad term, but for me, it includes knowing my students, listening, having fairness and respect, motivation, and reflection. It is important to know your students both in a classroom setting and in a community setting. Knowing the learning styles and educational needs (and adapting your teaching styles to accommodate) of each student is critical for academic success. However, it is also, equally, important to be aware of conditions that may affect behaviour and performance in school, such as your students' personalities, interests and dislikes, and personal situations. As PE teachers, I think that we can be sucked into the sports world too much, and forget about other student interests, such as art, music, or drama. Deducing this knowledge early in the school year is important for the establishment of meaningful relationships with your students.
The ability to listen has always been one of those attributes that has been deemed important by our parents, teachers, friends, coaches, etc. An effective teacher is able to listen with sympathy and compassion and show that they are interested in the student's life through gentleness, patience, and encouragement. The complement to this is communication that is tactful and honest; but a teacher must also be aware of their own limitations and refer the student to another teacher or school staff that can provide the support that they are looking for.
One time I was asked about the importance of respect, and how someone gets respect from someone else. I truly believe that respect is a two-way street. When you show respect to another, they are much more likely to show it back. This can be through treating our students as adults (when appropriate) by providing options and decision making opportunities, working with the students rather than for them, acknowledging good behavior and work, and creating safe environments where student input and success is encouraged. This also ties into fairness that we show to our students. The idea that “all teachers are political , whether they are conscious or not” (Patrick Shannon) is important to have in the back of the mind. We will all have the star students, or those who try really hard, and so on, but it is a matter of continuing to treat all students equally.
I think one of the most challenging parts of teaching will be trying to motivate students. This relies greatly on the knowledge of our students, as some kids are motivated intrinsically while others are motivated extrinsically. The recognition that some of the students that are more quiet in class doesn’t mean that they are not participating, it just may be their demeanor and should not be forced into uncomfortable situations. However, I think that a major part of motivation is providing students with reasonable challenges that they can accomplish, as it can encourage students to become more engaged in the subject. On the flip side, I think that as a teacher, we have to be interested and enthusiastic about what we are teaching; if we think it is boring, the students probably will too!
As we were discussing in class, an important part of being an effective teacher is being reflexive. Being able to identify what is working and what is not working is important for developing your own teaching style and providing the best opportunities for our students to learn. With reflection should come change or adjustments to our teaching practice, and what worked with one class may not work with all of our classes.
Throughout the years that I have been a student, I have found that the most effective teachers are those who go beyond the subject content of the class. It is the teachers who show an honest interest in what you are doing and how you are accomplishing these tasks. That being said, it isn’t always necessarily about material beyond the classroom, as an interest in the course work and mastery understanding is also key to effective teaching. As a future teacher (and coach) I hope that I am able to create these meaningful relationships with my students so that they can accomplish all that they strive for and not PRESSURE them onto another path. Like in the movie The Blindside, if you really want to flip burgers, that’s fine with me, I will do what I can to help you get there…
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