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These past couple months I've blogged about several topics. BIG topics. I didn't even really scratch the surface of any one of them, but I got the wheels turning. The fact is that these topics can be taught, and it's important to realize this. They can be taught as long as they are valued and practiced. For example, Passion is not something that you can necessarily take a multiple choice test on, but it's something that can be ignited in the classroom and enhanced there so the students can leave that class a better more passionate person then when they came in. As for teachers, we need to consistently be checking ourselves to see if we are on board with these past topics. We need to grow in them and enhance them everyday. Teachers can do this by keeping up with hobbies, as well as starting new hobbies, attending conventions about things they are passionate about, etc. There's so much that we can all do, but HOW you do it is what sets each person apart!

Resilience

Presuming that all aspiring teachers attend a college or university in order to attain an education degree I'd say it's a fair assumption to say that at sometime or other, we've all been stressed. I truly think that the only way to prepare ourselves for the daily stresses of being a teacher is to learn how to deal with the daily stresses we have now in an effective way. Professors have the hard job of making our lives "difficult" per say. They should expect a lot from us, and because a lot of us take a lot of courses at once we end up having a lot of professors that expect a lot from us and only so many hours in a day. This=stress. We grow accustomed to lots of stuff to do and therefore it becomes the norm. Also, it would be helpful to hear guest speakers give advice on what exactly we can expect to fill our days and what will take up most of our time, this way we can be mentally prepared.
The numbers of people that change their profession only a few years in is very big. It's understandable, though. We can't expect to like everything we dive into. However, job-changing occurs largely because people were not aware what they were getting into. As teachers, the more we volunteer in classrooms and observe and student-teach, the more we will have an awareness of what we will be dealing with once we are in charge of a classroom of our own, and the more time you have to think if you really want to enter the field or not.

Humility

Life is life. Life goes wrong! Things go wrong. The last time I was wrong in a “schoolwork” sense was on my last French assignment, but the last time I was wrong in the “life” sense was…oh, everyday! We face things in our everyday lives that offer us a choice. Often, because we are human, we make a decision that ends up being wrong because we didn’t think it all the way through, etc. The important thing for a teacher to do when it comes to being right and wrong is create an environment where their students feel like it’s okay for them to be wrong, and not be judged. They can make wrong choices or answers and still be accepted, simply because they’re human and that’s what we do. Teachers need to teach their students to have humility and confidence at the same time. A level of confidence that does not exude ignorance or arrogance but a level that comes off in a way that you don’t look stupid, just so you seem aware that there’s always room for improvement. To know that you can always improve and be a better person does not mean that you’re not confident. A teacher must not encourage the kids who are rude or arrogant, but more encourage kids in a quiet way that exudes confidence in a humble way. Maybe the teacher could write what they enjoy about their manner on a test or in a conference with them and their parents. The non-humble students will then figure out that their attitude is not working with that particular teacher and will drop the over-confident attitude.

Collaboration

When I think of an effective team, I think of a group of people that can work together and push past problems and difficulties to create a successful product or outcome. To collaborate means to work together in a sense that everybody brings their own skills and ideas to the table and evaluate everything together until an end product has been made. People can bounce ideas off of one another in order to figure out what will work and what will not work. The difference between collaborating and simply “group work” is that often “group work” is done in an inefficient and unevenly distributed way. Different members step up to be the leader, and they end up doing most of the work while the others just watch and talk. But collaboration encompasses even distribution of work to all members of the group and the brainstorming is done together. The benefit of collaboration instead of "group work" is that each member will learn how to pull their own weight in group settings, as well as hear and modify their ideas and other people's ideas by working toward a similar goal.

Efficacy

A highly effective teacher must teach his/her students to have self-awareness, confidence, persistence, and work ethic. Before one is able to accomplish teaching these characteristics, the teacher must demonstrate these. Naturally, I think it’s people who have these characteristics built into their core that choose to go into the teaching profession because we are all aware that they are so necessary.
If you have self-awareness, this will help because you go about tasks in a conscientious way, knowing what the consequences and outcomes of your actions will be. Confidence is vital due to varied and sometimes crazy teaching environments; kids love to find weakness and will find ways to prey on it. If confidence is exuded, than you will be more likely to be respected. Persistence will allow you to keep working at something until you find the right way to do it, this will apply to your classroom in many ways. For instance, getting through to students or understanding them is hard, so not giving up is essential, you just have to persist until you find the right approach. Work ethic goes along with this well. Teaching doesn’t just stop once you step outside of the classroom. It’s important to stay professional around co-workers as well as in your community to establish respect. Showing up to kids sporting events and concerts is equally important to show further interest in kids lives outside of the classroom, that way, relationships have the ability to form.
These attributes are mainly developed through practice. In all that we do now in the present, we must be mindful of these qualities. The more we revert to them in everyday life, the more natural they will become to us.

Creativity

Listening to Sir Ken Robinson speak out about Creativity in schools has really got my mind working on what he said. He made amazing points. He said that we need to come up with a better way to educate our children with their whole being, not just from the "waste up slowly moving to only one side of the brain" type of education. I see myself as a very creative person, and definitely thrive in outward environments where I can do and say creative things. This has not always been a nurtured side of me. In fact, it was often squished in high school. It is my nature to be outgoing and creative, so I've learned to nurture it in the ways that I can.

It’s of extreme importance that we equip kids with the skills they are going to need in the 21^st century and beyond. They are going to have to think innovatively and intuitively more and more as more problems we try to solve go unsolved and they have to pick up our slack. Ways to encourage this are to allow kids to come up with lots of ideas in regular class settings, and discuss pros and cons of all. Imagination is bountiful in fresh minds, and this should be utilized! Encouraging kids to think outside the box every day will play a huge part in their creative thinking growth.

Reflectiveness

The only thing that stands between teachers and students reflecting on a regular basis is lack of time. The problem is that people do not make time to think, only to do things without pre-meditating their decisions. The people that do not reflect cannot grow. I personally think it's impossible not to reflect. I think it's human nature to think about and analyze what happen throughout our days, so how do you just block out what happens to you? The people that do this must be always and only looking ahead. The bad thing about this is that you can never learn from looking back if you only look forward. This is especially important when it comes to the classroom, so much happens in the classroom everyday and if you don't reflect on it how it will it improve? Wise teachers seem to be the ones who take into account the good and bad of each day, and alter their methods so that the good starts to overpower the bad and soon it's almost all good! Same goes for students, it's so important to look at everything you do, to see if you like what's happening, and if we spend our time effectively. Sometimes reflecting might seem daunting or time consuming but it's truly the opposite. After any event in your day, make sure to remove whatever emotions were playing apart in your decision making, and think about how something might've been changed, or what you could do in a similar situation in the future. There is no such thing as negative reflection. We reflect, even without knowing it. Reflecting=Thinking.

Passion

Passion definitely has to be the driving factor that leads anyone to choose a career. If it is not, it's just a job, not a career. Passion means to ignite a fire that will give you energy to share your passion and turn it into something. For some of us, that means we have been given the opportunity to teach our passion. I once had a theatre teacher in high school who not only taught theatre, she WAS it. There was a certain magical-ness about her, like anything was possible. Because truly she did make everything possible! She was able to get her students to forget who we were, to become a different person, to "step into character" and make decisions that the character you were portraying would make. We rarely felt embarassed or hesitant because the key thing was that we wanted to enter her world of magic. I experienced this same level of passion another time through my senior year Astronomy teacher. He literally would jump around the room to explain different concepts and ideas because he was so excited. As you can guess, this made us want to be as excited as him. I have been fortunate to have teachers who are generally enthusiastic about what they teach. There have been instances where I've had teachers that haven't been very exciting, let alone passionate about a subject. The important thing that makes a difference though is how you as the student can still be passionate enough about learning to get what you need out of the class, even if the teacher didn't impact you hugely. It's up to you to seek your own passions with the tools you have.

Authenticity

I define authenticity as honesty and truth, as well as originality, that are behind one's actions and decisions. To put a limit on authenticity to me seems rather strange, but expressing it is a different story. Sometimes, when someone is over genuine or authentic it almost seems they are trying too hard, and it becomes fake or inauthentic seeming. The limit is when it no longer feels natural or right. Students can tell inauthenticity as soon as the Teacher seems disinterested, OR to go the other way and the teacher seems gushy or too interested in being cool and fitting in with the Students. I think it's a trend for Students, when faced with a Teacher or authority figure they find inauthentic or fake, to not maximize their learning. The Students don't know to what lengths the teacher will take in an authentic way, so they are unsure of what to trust. When trust levels are down, it's harder to take in information and keep it there. Therefore, authenticity should be established early by the teacher in a genuine way of accepting who you are and presenting it to the class in a positive way. I think positive feedback from Students is guaranteed once this happens.

Compassion

When did the compassion of a teacher make a difference in my life or in the life of my classmate? 

Looking back, I've seen compassion come in and out of my classroom experiences ever since I can remember. I can remember instances where my teachers were very insensitive but I also remember instances where my teachers were extremely understanding, or compassionate. I had a teacher in third grade named Ms. Benz who not only was my teacher, but she also worked for the Vikings football team as a type of manager. She made me feel like we were friends. I don't know how she did it, but I felt special in her eyes. If there was ever a time that I felt I was having a bad day or if I was left out by a group of girls, she would be there giving encouragement. Who knows what kind of lasting affect her compassionate nature has had on me, but it can't have been negative. I look upon her fondly in my memory. It's people like that in our early years that encourage us to be compassionate too, I believe.

Respect

Respect. R-e-s-p-e-c-t! Do we DEFINE respect only by Aretha Franklin's famous song that literally spells it out? Well...you could. But I think there's much more to it than that. I would define the big "R" word as more of a way of life. To make it a verb, to be respectful. Respect is to recognize someone or something else as a functioning entity and to treat and use it kindly and with humbleness. In the classroom, respect must be expected and received by the authority figure, or else nothing can be accomplished or learned. Respect is mirrored from student to teacher. Respect is when the teachers acknowledge the students in a courteous manner and allow them to create work that expresses their intellectual freedom while still maintaining the curriculum. Likewise the students must acknowledge the teacher as the authority figure and allow them to have control of the classroom in a courteous manner. It is established through trust. The teacher, especially the first week, has to show that they are reliable and that the student is going to learn something in their classroom. The teacher must set standards of respect in their class, too. These should be upheld all the time and if broken should be called out and discussed.