Five+Things+about+Teaching

Here are 5 things to remember as you leave EDSS 446 and enter student-teaching and the teaching profession:


 * 1) **See yourself as a teacher-researcher**: you are studying human beings and their motivations, goals, and sense of selves; reflect on these observations to make sense of teaching and learning in the 21st century AND then write it up. Share your experiences with colleagues and publish them. It is this type of mindset that can keep you inspired and focused rather than drained and burned out after two years.
 * 2) **Be yourself with students**: be real, they want to have real relationships with the adults in their lives; I am not saying to adopt youth culture as your own and become their BFF, but there is amazing value in establishing a teacher-student relationship based on trust, respect, and common understanding
 * 3) **Show students your love of your content area**: you offer a window into a specific discipline and your love and interest in this discipline will be contagious. Attempt to demonstrate this love on a daily basis!
 * 4) **Take risks and experiment**: collaborate with colleagues, trust that students can be teachers and you can be a learner, get parents involved, create a community in your classroom where it is safe to take risks and experiment, make learning fun. Rock the boat when needed. Real change begins in the hands of teachers.
 * 5) **Ask for help:** no one can survive teaching on their own; **f****ind like-minded colleagues** and hold on for dear life, don't reinvent the wheel, ask questions often, and remember to reflect on your experiences (see #1-4 above).