What makes great teaching?

 After completing the final module from this course, I believe there are 3 main things that make great teaching. 1. A great teacher needs to show empathy for their students. Showing empathy is necessary to be a great teacher because we need to be able to connect with our students and show them we really care. Doing this can have students excited to come to school and make school a positive environment. 2. A great teacher is able to stay culturally relevant. Staying culturally relevant is extremely important and I learned that through taking this course. If we are not culturally relevant teachers then we will not be able to relate to our students' lives and what is happening in the real world. Staying up to date on what's going on within society is key to being a great teacher. 3. Great teaching requires patience for students. Showing patience as a teacher can sometimes be difficult at times but having patience is necessary to make the classroom a positive place for all. Another great way to be a great teacher is to provide assignments that your students will actually learn something from. Here is my top 5 list of assignments I enjoyed doing this semester and I think these would be great assignments to translate into my future classroom and use with my students: 

1. Blogging with other educators: During this course, we were required to answer compelling questions using our own personal blog spots and collaborating with others responding to each other's posts. I really enjoyed reading everyone’s blogs this semester and it was cool to see others’ ideas and perspectives on each topic we covered. I also got to learn a lot from my classmates with this strategy.

2. 3-2-1 Research reports: The 3-2-1 research report required us to write 3 things we learned, 2 things we found interesting and 1 thing we still have a question about after reading a specific article. I liked this activity a lot because it got me to think deeper about the materials I was required to read and reflect on how I felt about that reading. 

3.Do’s and Don’ts list: The do’s and dont’s list assignment had us write 3 things we are going to do in our future classrooms to make a positive impact and 3 things we’re not going to do that would cause harm in the classroom. I enjoyed this assignment because it got me to read materials and reflect on my future classroom and helped me build a better understanding of how I need to be as a teacher

4. Literature reading and discussion: This assignment required us to choose from a pre-selected list of books and collaborate with classmates to read and discuss the book as a group. This was probably my favorite activity we did all semester because it was a great way to collaborate with classmates and connect to the book. 

5. Word It Out: This assignment had us complete a module on how to be a culturally relevant teacher. After completing the required readings and videos we had to create a wordle using an online website and highlight keywords we took away from the readings and videos. It was interesting to use that website and see all the keywords come together on a final wordle.

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