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The Qualities Of An Outstanding Teacher

Decent Essays

Describe the skills or attributes you believe are necessary to be an outstanding teacher.
While there are many ways to be an outstanding teacher, every high-quality teacher should, in my opinion, have these skills and dispositions:
• A focus on relationships. This includes relationships with students, relationships with parents, relationships with other teachers, relationships between students, relationships between content areas, and so on. Building excellent relationships with other individuals, especially students, is vital to being an excellent teacher, no matter the grade level or content area.
• Always growing and seeking to improve their practice, learning from their mistakes. Teaching is not a profession that is the same every …show more content…

Outstanding teachers know their stuff! They know what they are teaching and how to teach it so that students will understand and be able to use their knowledge in multiple contexts.
• Reflective. Outstanding teachers take time to reflect on their own practice and on student learning, asking themselves questions and really seeking to find the answers. Part of being reflective is using data to inform future teaching, really wrestling with the numbers and information we get from students about their learning so that we can modify our instruction to best suit their needs.
• Solid classroom management/community. Have you ever been in a classroom that could “run itself”? It probably belonged to an outstanding teacher. Phenomenal teachers craft a classroom that is a community, where all learners are able to grow in relationships, knowledge, and maturity. Systems are in place to make the classroom run smoothly so that time can be spent on more important things than where to put homework in the morning.
• Give back to the school beyond the classroom. The school is a community, just like the classroom should be. One of the best ways to make that community more beneficial to all its members is to give back. Outstanding teachers know this and put it into practice, whether it is coaching a sport, volunteering with PTO activities, serving on a committee, or supporting other teachers.
• Remember why we are here. In the craziness of mandates and

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