Humility

I try not to be wrong, but sometimes on homework and quizzes or tests I get things wrong.  I try to learn from my mistakes on homework so then I don’t get them wrong on the test.  I think it is a good thing to get things wrong on homework or stuff like that.  It makes me work harder on my studies.  I would spend more time focusing on that subject.   As a future teacher I believe it is easy to balance confidence and genuine humility.  If you are confident it can help you be humble.  

Team!

          Here at college, I am a member of the Luther College Swimming and Diving team.  I believe our team is a very highly effective team.  To be a highly effective team you have to work hard.  That is one thing our team does daily.  We have double day practices and at every single practice we work hard.  Another quality to have in an effective team is support.  On our team we support everyone.  At our meets we never sit down.  We stand and cheer at every lane for a Luther swimmer.  The final quality that comes to my mind that makes an effective team is a goal.  At the beginning of the season we fill out a goal sheet for ourselves.  We also have team goals which we establish at a standards meeting.  I believe establishing goals helps the team stayed focused.  It keeps everyone in line to not be lazy during our training.  

         Collaboration refers to an instruction method in which students at various performance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal.  The students are responsible for one another’s learning as well as their own.  Thus, the success of one student helps others to be successful.  Cooperative learning is more than simply asking student to get in a group and work on an assignment together.  This stresses formal instruction which teachers carefully design lessons and activities that are suitable for use by teams.  Cooperative learning is working together to accomplish shared goals.  Both terms are used interchangeably. 

Effective Qualities

Being a highly effective teacher doesn’t just come to you.  It will take time.  The first real experience will be your first year of teaching.  Effective teaching is a teaching philosophy that can be very efficient to use in the classroom.  If a teacher is very self-aware, confident, and persistent, has good work ethic and believes in one’s ability these traits can be incorporated into effective teaching.  One characteristic that I think is important is work ethic.  Another way to show you have a good work ethic is through your lessons plans.  You also need to have great enthusiasm because you want your students to be interested in your classroom activities.  If the students are interested they will be engaged in the lessons that you are teaching.   Another key attribute would be confidence.  This would be important to me because if I am confident in myself I will be less nervous in the classroom in front of my students.   I need to believe in myself and know that the college courses I have taken will help prepare me to be an effective teacher in the classroom.  I just have to get to the classroom first to get the experience in.