At the core of what education and teaching is all about,
quality teachers and administrators will undoubtedly reiterate this fundamental
premise. The mark of an effective and efficient teacher, as well as school, will ultimately
come down to how and what has been planned on a daily and period basis by each and every certified teacher on staff.
Although the dynamics of what goes on in individual
classrooms and disciplines is marked by equally important facets such as
accurate attendance and classroom and time management, bringing into the
classroom a curriculum aligned and essential questions plan should be the
ultimate goal of every educator. This plan or lesson should ultimately be engaging, inspiring and a motivating
piece of art as a result of outstanding creativity, intuitiveness, mastery of
subject matter and content, planning and a keen eye and command of technology
resources in which are available and out there.
As part of this strategy, it will hopefully include implementation of Social Media
resources which will open the traditional classroom doors to the outside world.
As a former coach for many years it is not my intention here
to dictate or mandate the x’s and o’s of what teachers should be doing each and
every moment in their classroom. If my
readers were expecting tools and additional resources to guide them to raising
efficacy in their instruction and methodology this was only slightly my lesson plan.
Although I have said many times before not everyone can
teach, I do think that teachers, if they really want to be great teachers, can improve and become better at their
profession. What is at the core of this
article and in question is the quality and quantity of teacher’s day to day instruction to reach, impact and
see to it that all students under their charge are maximizing their levels of achievement and success. To this end, the rhetorical question which
invariably comes to mind is “but how?”
The answer simply rests within the mind and heart of each and every
classroom teacher.
Bringing life to
lesson plans implies first a teacher must be very passionate about
teaching. They see it as a livelihood as
well as a profession. They realize that
developing awesome lesson plans take a lot of time. They go well beyond the traditional classroom
planning hours to work at creating these pieces of art from wherever and whenever they might be outside the confines of the their planning hours AND the school. They are constantly brainstorming and
thinking of ways to engage their students.
They are constantly and consciously thinking of ideas in which will
provide relevance and connectedness to the other disciplines as well as current
events. This to some might be a calling
but to others it is simply a case of doing all within their power to ensure
their kids are getting the maximum effort and attention all great teachers should be
providing. This is not about salary and
benefits and what the school or administration can do for “me”. It is about them, our most precious assets to
our collective futures. We as educators
are fortunate to have the opportunity and should feel privileged to be able to
direct and ensure our kids of today have a simple chance at the jungle in which
we refer to as the real world!
Equally as important, and not to be discounted, there must
be unmistakable regard, care and compassion for each and every child assigned
to your class. Although we live in an
often regarded non-compassionate and caring society, it is here in the
individual classroom where a teacher’s remarks, words, and attitude can have a
long lasting and far reaching impact on not only the education but character of
each and every one of their students. We
must consciously see and think about this as we go about our period and daily
interactions with our students as we teach them right from wrong along with the
three R’s.
Needless to say and in closing, I hope that it has become
apparent that in bringing life to lesson plans an educator has to look deeply
in the mirror and within them to see and understand the enormous charge and
privilege they have accepted. To this
end, prepare yourselves for a journey like no other, in doing a job and living
through the hopes and dreams of others instead of ourselves. This is what we were brought on this earth to
do. Peace!
