Prompt #3

What is your greatest teaching challenge?
What are effective teacher behaviors?
What does effective teaching mean to you?

Well from a student's point of view I think effective teaching would very unique to each student. Given that, effective teaching is meeting all student's needs. I'm not sure to what extent I agree with this statement but teaching is one of the more altruistic positions where teachers need to be dedicated to the students. My teaching aspirations define what I think effective teaching is. I want to be able to give students an understanding of mathematics that reaches much further than content. If a teacher is able to use content to teach and model ethics, leadership and engagement while being understanding and entertaining then students are given an experience rather than a boring place to go during the day.

Effective teaching behaviors are those in which teachers maintain a structured class while also creating an environment where students have the reasonable opportunity to be engaged. I say reasonable because a traditional classroom does not provide an atmosphere where students can be inspired. Some students are able to succeed but their motivation has nothing to do with the class. These students are naturally curious and engaged and need little instruction. Other students need to be shown that engagement in the classroom can occur. It is almost like they need to be taught curiosity. This is what I mean by provide a reasonable opportunity. You could also think about it as providing a reasonable choice. Students choose to be engaged in the classroom. If you were a student, would you enjoy your lessons or would they be boring?

This will be my greatest challenge, trying to provide these engaging lessons. These students haven't experienced this type of instruction. They don't understand what it means to think of mathematics outside of the textbook. To them, its a subject not an idea. To them, its necessary instead of interesting. To them, it can't be fun. With everything teachers need to do, how can we be expected to constantly develop creative lessons. These lessons require time to do research and effort to adapt personal style. In a typical day, where the curriculum is rigid and content focused and with only one prep period, how is this to be done?