Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Session 1 - Question 2

In Chapter 2, the author compiles a list of characteristics of what students describe as an excellent teacher. Describe a teacher who inspired, motivated, and/or guided you to reach your highest potential. Why do you think these qualities are important to middle school students?

27 comments:

  1. My senior year (high school) Human Physiology teacher, Mr. P, was a great example of a teacher addressing the needs of GT students. First of all, the class was GT only, so he was able to focus on our needs. I know that doesn't mesh with the idea of inclusion, but in this instance I feel like it was essential to our success. It was an extremely fast and info-saturated class that could have been utterly overwhelming, but Mr. P turned it into an intellectual challenge that he made very clear could be accomplished by each one of us. He conferenced with us often to get the story on how we were doing beyond our grades and took a sincere interest in our academic and personal well-being. Mr. P helped us succeed by expecting a lot from us but also providing all the support possible to help get us there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mrs. Feinberg was my French and Spanish teacher in high school. I liked her because she had a passion for her subjects and she seemed to like her students. It was the 60's, so I don't remember differentiation and variations to approach learning as an option...and technology, well, there wasn't anything beyond a tape recorder. I remember desks in rows, rote learning, and few conversations between teachers and students. But Mrs. Feinberg was enthusiastic and tried to make learning about other countries and languages fun. Her encouraging nature and passion were refreshing. Her enthusiasm for a world of travel and different cultures offered an exciting option.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ms. Albay was my chemistry teacher (junior year). She was the one who made me love math and science. Despite not having all the technology then the class was really fun since we basically had to make our own equipment for the class. It was amazing to realize how many household products can be used in a chemistry lab. I don't ever remember any of us getting an 100% on any of her tests but she always had one bonus question on her test that required creative thinking which was always fun to answer.

    She always answered a question with another question too. :-)

    This was in the late 70's but when I took college chemistry I was surprised how easy it was for me since I have already done most of the coursework in HS.
    She also encouraged the class to compete in science fairs and i was so happy when I actually made it to the national level that year. She was one of those teachers that always had time for you.
    She was also our class advisor and she would come to school on Saturdays to meet with my class so that my class can work on our many school activities. ( My school actually had lots of interclass, cross level competitions during the school year.There is a week of intramurals( a week where all classes competed in team sports), a week for dance and choral competitions, etc. The whole class will sing, dance etc )
    But Ms. Albay was always there for advise.

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of my best teachers was high school physics teacher. not only was he passionate about the subject but his students as well. He wanted everyone to have an amazing learning experience and pushed us to learning as much as we could about the subject. I think he was ahead of the game when it came to the learning experiences he would provide us with. He would pose simple questions for the class, or a problem, and would let us go to explore and solve it. I think by letting our imaginations go wild we were able to learn more. Though there may have been more trial and error, that is what a GT student really needs the most.

    ReplyDelete
  5. As I read this list of characteristics, I thought about a couple teachers. My Art IV teacher was an excellent teacher who had many of these qualities. He genuinely cared about us and helped us through our struggles in the challenging projects. It was because of him that I wanted to major in Studio Art in college (and I don’t blame him at all that Art nearly killed me that first semester).

    Another influential teacher—the one who really helped me understand my own writing process and allowed me the room to find my creativity in writing was my Senior Seminar professor the last semester of college. I often am reminded of her as I teach writing. As I remember her, I realize that she exhibited many of the characteristics on this list.

    Even though I was in college at the time, I can see how her methods can translate into the middle school classroom. Many of these traits allow the student to trust their teacher as a person and makes them more willing to learn.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Reading the characteristics of a teacher of gifted students really made me examine myself as a teacher. Do I have any of these qualities? And shouldn't I have some of these to support those gifted students? Have I imapacted any of my past students? These characteristcs are what may really make a difference in a students' life.
    I then started to think back and figure out what teacher I had that was this way. I thought of my social studies teacher in 7th grade, Ms. Richards. She was one of those teachers that was hard and did not put up with alot of nonsense but she was so caring and interesting. And she knew her subject. She asked us to work our hardest because the rewards were so high. But she also got to know us personally. She came to our choir concerts and kept up with me throughout middle school and high school. I thought she was so neat because she put a line through her number sevens like the Greeks and then I started to do that too!!! She just really made a difference in my life! She taught us to take risks, work hard, but to dream too. I am so glad that I took the time to remember her in my life!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Unfortunately, I cannot remember this particular teacher's name. I was taking a literature of the South class at LSU. While he did not seem out to "inspire or choose me," he read one of the answers from my midterm to the class. Do they still use those blue books in college? Anyway, he chose my response to the prompt to read to the class as an exmple of a GOOD essay. I don't remember ever feeling proud of anything I did academically. While only the professor and I know who wrote the essay, this gave me the courage to write in college.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A teacher that inspired and motivated me to reach my full potential was Dr. Bonnie Frederick, a Spanish professor at TCU. She taught Advanced Grammar, and while the subject matter was dry, she tried her best to bring real world language experiences to the classroom. She was always available to conference about your goals and would do anything to support a student who needed help. Her passion for the language, culture and people in other countries inspired me to pursue my love of the Spanish language and culture.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have distinct memories of my High School World History teacher Mr. Gupta. The visualization techniques he used made us immediately connect with the text. The connections between past and present through examples took us back immediately to the era being taught and it almost quite simply fell in place. The expansion of the universe and the characteristics of people today suddenly made sense. He made a subject that could have been very dull and matter of fact otherwise into one of the most intriguing experiences that helped me understand cultures in my future life.

    ReplyDelete
  10. In response to Shivani...
    It's a rare skill to be able to bring a subject alive so vividly and empower students to connect and learn. What were the visualization techniques your teacher used?

    ReplyDelete
  11. When I think back on the teachers who had a profound impact on me, I realize that they all were passionate about their subjects, but they also showed confidence in my abilities, as well as other students. They helped me see my own strengths, and made me want to strive to be better. All of them had high expectations and truly cared about the kids they were entrusted to teach.

    ReplyDelete
  12. When I was in 7th grade I had history teacher that allowed us to have choice and suggest ways we could demonstrate our learning. (It wasn't a G/T class- too old for that but for the higher performing students.) He often asked us to give him feedback on what activities and teaching strategies helped us best understand. He had patience and an unending ability to see the best in each student even when we could not. Many students spent free time before and after school working on extensions to the units of study we covered because they wanted to know about this and that. He always encouraged us. He really understood what we needed to learn regardless of what we thought our class was about. We learned about how we best learned.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I grew up in a small community. Our secondary school consisted of grades 7-12 with around 100 students total. As a result most of my classes were mixed grade levels and over the years I had many of the same teachers for more than one class. The advantage of this for the most part was that the teachers really knew you well (maybe too much). The ones that I most fondly remember not only had the ability of getting us excited about their subject, but also had a genuine interest in us as individuals. Since we were so small and each teacher had numerous preps, I think more out of necessity than anything else, we were assigned independent or small group projects. I know this was the case with my Trigonometry class where the 3 of us in the class were assigned to a teacher during his planning time. These experiences made it much more apparent that I had to be responsible for my own learning.

    ReplyDelete
  14. One of the teachers who impacted me the most was a history teacher in undergraduate school. Dr. Morris made history come alive for us by telling us stories. These stories made history more real and accessible to us than any textbook pages and assessment questions. He motivated me to connect with my students with an engaging manner and to be just as excited about my material as I expected my kids to be. The qualities mentioned in chapter two are important to middle school students because this is a time of their lives when it is so easy for them to "check out". If teaching is to be a calling for us we should naturally reach out to them.

    ReplyDelete
  15. During my middle school years it was my chior teacher that had the most impact on me. She gave poitive feedback on a regular basis and push me to the best I could be. So many of the things talked about in chapter two in what makes a good teacher for the GT student is what we should aspire to in our classrooms. Good relationships, patience, determination, and freedom of creativity. One thing that caught my eye was bullet number 6 that talked about the level of vocabulary and the modeling of content language is addressed. It was always my practice to use apporpriate language in my classroom. My students always commented on the "big" words I would use. They learned to use them too.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is in response to Mr. Clouse's comment on my post. It seemed quite funny at the time but Mr. Gupta used various techniques. Sometimes, he would draw a caricature of himself or one of us to depict how we would have looked like during the times. On other occasion, he would bring an audio clip of the time. He also used mind games to help us visualize the times.

    ReplyDelete
  17. My 9th grade Algebra teacher, Mr. Morris inspired me to be a teacher. He refused to accept excuses and, on more than one occasion, had half or more of all his students in tutorials. I remember one occasion when most of the class was failing he called parent conferences with all students failing. He didn't take the easy out and refused to lower his expectations.

    ReplyDelete
  18. During my middle school years, it was my 8th grade science teacher, Mr. Bradley, that inspired me to become a teacher. He showed a genuine interest in what I enjoyed. I felt that he saw something special in me, which made me work harder to impress him. I remember having a discussion with him about my project on sound. He really listened to my ideas, gave feedback, and then guided me in such a way that made my project better than I could have ever imagined it could be. I can still remember the sense of joy that I felt after presenting this project. He was the only teacher that I felt knew who I was, what my interests were, and knew how to encourage me to seek out my best effort.

    ReplyDelete
  19. My 11th grade US History teacher inspired me. She had an enthusiasm for teaching and used a variety of methods to teach. She used simulation games in class, which was unique. She encouraged us to strive to be our best. I remember enjoying history in her class. Qualities of a GT teacher mentioned in chapter 2 are important to middle school students. Students are trying out things, trying to find who they are, which is always evolving. Not being threatened by students' questions and having a "can do" attitude keeps a positive learning environment and allows students to investigate without fearing failure. Acceptance is very important and those characteristics help students feel accepted while at the same time growing and learning.

    ReplyDelete
  20. My third grade teacher, Ms. Henry, at Sherwood Elementary shared her enthusiasim for learning with her students. She made an impact with the kids daily demonstrating not only positive learning habits but also encouraging all of us to be better people. She emphasized good citizenship as a goal we should strive for on a daily basis. Ms. Henry always was extremly helpful and friendly showing her students her passion for teaching.

    ReplyDelete
  21. My senior year of high school, I had to have brain surgery, and my whole world got turned upside-down.

    I had more than enough credits for graduation, but the attendance policy required me to be on campus each day.

    Several of my senior teachers visited me in the hospital during my recovery. I spent Spring Break there, and came back to school the following week as though nothing had happened...minus my hair.

    I was touched by those handful of teachers who came and visited me, but I was even more impressed by one teacher especially, Troy Tinney.

    He was the theatre director on campus, and he made it his business to see that I was not only comfortable, but anxious engaged in a good cause. Rather than just sitting back and recovering, he arranged for me to take an independent study class. He and I spent the individual time working on theatre projects. We had no set time schedule. We simply worked according to our goals.

    Once, when he knew we were going to be there for several hours after school, he took myself and two of the other theatre kids to lunch at Whataburger. We talked about life and school and all of our struggles. I remember distinctly how in that moment he was far less of a teacher, and much more of a mentor.

    That lunch has stayed with me through the years because it showed me his character far more than any planned lesson ever could have.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Comment on Shivani… That's a really cool idea to draw a caricature of how you would look in a previous time period. I like drawing pictures and stick figures to illustrate information. Students remember the pictures and when it is silly looking, it adds humor. Reading Shivani's post about her teacher drawing caricatures reminded me that visualization is a good technique for teaching as well as for student assignments. I could do a "before" and "after" or "then" and "now" contrast. There are lots of possibilities.

    ReplyDelete
  23. My 6th grade teacher left a memorable impression and easily could be described as an “excellent teacher”. There are several points on the list beginning on page 21-23 that described him to a tee. His enthusiasm for learning was a delight to watch and he modeled passion and joy for continued learning. In addition, his integrity and honesty regarding things he did not know stayed with me and I strive to follow his example. He was someone who responded to my lack of confidence and insecurity by not giving up on me, giving positive feedback, and sharing his personal stories as an example of perseverance through mistakes and errors to achieve success. His willingness to connect and be supportive was his way to motivate me that lead to unlocking my potential through his appropriate high expectations.

    When middle school students, especially gifted students, are going through growth spurts, feeling social/emotionally or academically alone/inadequate it would be beneficial having an adult to watch, listen, ask, or model on their behalf. Our middle school young people still need the guidance of a trusted adult who believes in them and supports and/or challenges them academically, socially, and emotionally. I think the author’s “excellent teacher” list needs to be shared with all educators.

    ReplyDelete
  24. my sixth grade teacher was a wonderful inspiration. She always required best effort and wouldn't accept less. She worked to pull everyone up and see that this happened. Most of all, you could tell she really loved her students and related to each one of us.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Shelly I love that you wrote about your Algebra 1 teacher not accepting any excuses and never lowering his expectations! I think teachers sometimes get frustrated and we accept whatever the kids bring that day. I have always been of the mind set that if we set expectations, high ones,they almost always meet them or exceed them. I was inspired by what you all said about your teachers that you had when you were in school. It goes to show you that even before GT training and all that we know now, there were teachers who knew how to help us, motivate us, and foster us as students in their class. It gives me hope as a teacher!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. In response to Mr. Clouse on 1.28.11

    What you said about conferencing and taking an interest in the kids really stuck out. I think it is so important to build relationships with the kids. They really will go the extra mile for you once you can connect with them.

    In response to Christina on 1.30.11

    I agree with you that when we give our gt kids the opportunity to explore and solve wee give them the opportunity to really use their gifts!

    In response to C. Wegs on 1.31.11

    It is so important to get feedback from the kids. It also gives them the opportunity to know us as people who value their opinions and want to better ourselves for them!

    ReplyDelete
  27. In response to Kathy Oxspring...I found it interesting how she felt/thought introspectively, firstoff, whether she was exhibiting any of the positive, motivating characteristics we all fondly remember from our favorite and impactful teachers. She inspired me start the thought process of how I can become a better teacher involving all types of students including the ones in our topic.

    ReplyDelete