Reflections: Are You the Type of Teacher You Would Want for YOUR Child?

It’s the end of the school year, a time for reflection.  What worked?  What didn’t?  And what could I change?

I believe this is a question we should ask ourselves, “Am I the type of teacher I would want for my child?”  If you don’t have kids,  replace “your child”  with niece, nephew, little brother, you choose. But the question remains the same. Would you send a letter to the principal requesting that your child be in “your” class? Are you the type of teacher you would be happy to leave your child with 6 1/2 hours a day?

My colleagues and I thought of this question after attending the PLC summit in Arizona.  We felt it would be a great question for teachers to ask themselves. We need to be  honest with ourselves, and if  the answer is no, then I think we need to do some soul-searching.  We need to ask ourselves what we could do to make ourselves the kind of teacher we would want for our own  child.  It’s ironic that teachers who want only the best for their children, are willing to be mediocre for the children they teach.

How many teachers would want their kids in a class where the teacher refuses to integrate technology because it’s too much work?

Or, still teaches using worksheets with 100 of the same problems?

Uses yelling as a disciplinary tool? (Does not work, ever)

Discusses a child’s personal life with whoever is in the teacher’s lounge?

Confuses working collaboratively  with the theft of his/her ideas?

Does not communicate?

I know as my children traveled through the school system, I was one of those parents who made sure they had the “best” teachers. I would put in a “teacher request” every year until middle school.    I have always taught the way I want others to teach my kids.  As idealistic as it sounds, wouldn’t it be great, if we all taught as if our own child were in our classroom, every single day?