Teacher by Teacher

Often overlooked in the era of 'school reform' is the fact, yes fact, that individual teachers have the highest impact on their students. Busting unions, minimizing their impact, developing different styles of schools, infusing merit pay into the equation or implementing various other changes won't have nearly the effect as having a great teacher in the classroom.

One by one, each teacher has the opportunity to make a real difference in the life of each student. This has always been the case and it will continue to be so well into the future.

So what makes a terrific teacher? A bright teacher, who is thoughtful, cheerful and mindful of student needs and skill sets is the kind of educator we will always need. Such a teacher creates learnable moments day by day and sees to it that students are motivated and engaged in many ways.

A teacher who is an expert in his/her field of study and finds ways of reaching out to children to make this expertise become part of the fabric of the learner fits the bill.

The key to school reform is twofold, events that take place within the building and those that take place outside of the educational setting. When it comes to the part that can be controlled within the school environment, nothing works better than a fantastic teacher. People who want school reform need to look no further than great teaching.

Dick