Seeing Firsthand on How to be a Successful Educator

My last two posts have been about my observations in the schools, so I can't leave our last observation at the high school out because it was actually very enjoyable.

I do not want to teach high school. I have a hard time leading and connecting with people close to my age. It's not because I don't try to, and that I can't. It's just that it's harder for me to develop a confidence to teach teenagers rather than elementary age children. Because of this, I thought that being in the high school I would be completely out of my comfort zone and probably not even enjoy it. However, that was not the case.

I was placed in a former Cleveland County Schools Teacher of the Year's classroom and I can honestly say there is a reason she was nominated Teacher of the Year. I have never seen a high school teacher relate so well to her students and take history and make it to where the students were excited to learn it and were actually recalling the information they were being taught. I took four units of history in the same high school and never had that type of experience.

You could very well see that she possessed all of the teacher candidate standards and carried them into her classroom, just as she should. You could tell that her students felt safe and comfortable in her classroom and it was a diverse environment where the students could freely come to learn and express themselves.

One thing that I loved about her teaching style was that she was very interactive with her students. She made guided notes for them to ensure that the students could follow along and have all the information they needed to be successful. She grabbed their attention by showing them a relatable video that put the national debt into perspective for a high school student. Also, before even starting the new lesson, she said, "candy time" and the students were prepared to answer review questions from the previous lessons to receive candy. I saw this as an effective strategy that I could even use with my kindergartners.

I felt that this observation was very successful to me because it showed me ways to relate to my students and to make them feel comfortable in my classroom. Even though I was in a high school class, the strategies she used to teach would work for even elementary school students. There are many articles out there that talk about how rewarding students makes them want to learn the material more because they are prepared to answer the questions so they can get candy. I enjoyed sitting in on her class so much!