What Makes a Great Teacher?

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." - Benjamin Franklin.

I love this quote. I've seen it many times posted on Facebook. To me it sums up Sam's learning style perfectly. I have a huge responsibility to Sam now that I am home schooling him and I've been thinking about what kind of teacher I am. This lead me to thinking about teachers I know now and also the ones I remember from my own time at school. What teachers stand out and why?

My first stand out is my daughter's current teacher Mrs D. She was new to the school this year so I had no idea what she would be like. At the beginning of the year, she invited parents to attend a 'get to know me' session after class, which I went to. She talked about herself, her teaching philosophy and what our children could expect in her class. Now, Mrs D is a little deceiving. On the surface she can appear almost stern, but when she talks about the kids and learning everything changes. She lights up and you just know that she has a true passion for teaching. So on the day of the teacher meet and greet session, I left feeling inspired, excited and confident that my daughter was in the hands of a 'great' teacher and I have since been proved right. 

One of the amazing sets for
'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.

Last week, we watched our beautiful daughter Zoe perform in her class play 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. Mrs D organised this entire production herself in addition to the required curriculum studies. She and her students have been working incredibly hard for most of the year. I was so proud of Zoe and all the students as I sat watching the show this week. The children were obviously having fun and their confidence shined. The sets, costumes and overall design of the production were amazing. It reflected the hard work and dedication of a talented and truly gifted teacher. 

When I was in primary school, I had a teacher who we students affectionately nicknamed 'Molly' because she had a dog by that name. Mrs M was a beautiful, warm and caring teacher and was liked by all of her students. I always looked forward to going to school. The best thing about Mrs M however, was her very clever reward system. It had the whole class totally hooked and yet it was so simple. Scratch 'n' Sniff stickers. We were crazy for them. At the beginning of the year each student was given a plain bookmark made of cardboard. When we did good work or behaved well, we received a new sticker. This was promptly stuck on the bookmark and then... scratched and sniffed! I remember chocolate, apples, pizza and even a gherkin smelling sticker. When we filled up both sides of the bookmark we would be given another one. I still remember sitting ramrod straight at my desk each afternoon before home time hoping to score another sticker. 

In high school I had several teachers that made an impression on me, but one in particular was a music teacher called Mr B. He was quite a bit younger than most of the teachers and was a very talented musician in his own right. To be honest I had a bit of a crush on him. There's always one teacher like that, right? Mr B was never actually my music teacher, but he was Musical Director of the school's musical productions and I was in every show from Year 9 to Year 12, so I got to know him quite well. He was the one who gave me the confidence to sing and perform on stage and for that I will always be grateful. I think what made Mr B different was that he did not talk down to his students; he acknowledged you as a person. He listened and encouraged you, which is incredibly important to a teenager. I can honestly say my fondest memories of high school were being involved in the school musicals. They taught me a great deal about working with others and gave me a greater level of confidence than most young people my age. This confidence stood me in good stead when I started to attend job interviews and later in my job roles, which included recruitment and training. Most importantly, it inspired my life long love of theatre and performing.

So what makes a great teacher? For me it is someone who respects and understands their students. Someone who can be flexible and yet firm when needed. Someone who understands that learning should be fun and engaging. Someone who does just that little extra to create wonderful memories for their students. Someone who inspires and leaves an impression... no matter how many years have passed by.

Our Week

We are winding down for the Christmas break, so not as much to report this week. I spent some time reviewing our sight words and we've done quite a bit of reading. We also had a great day out building and racing Lego cars at a local art gallery, It is holding a special event for kids called 'Built for Speed'. It was a lot of fun and my husband enjoyed himself just as much as Sam did! We have also had some very crazy weather again this week in South East Queensland, which brought a great chunk of gum tree down not far from our house. It's been very windy on the Bumpy Road.

Sam and his Dad making a Lego racing car.

Even my Mum had a play.

Cool Lego racer Sam.