Week 1 article review

"The 12 qualities great teachers share"

Interesting article, though I feel that there are a few things I personally would add to my list:

13. The ability to be flexible, at all times. You have to be aware that plans change, lessons change, there is a fire drill, assembly, picture day, kids having a rough day because of something at home, kids puking on their table and project, administration making drastic curriculum changes just when you have things figured out... and so much more. Be prepare for changes and how to simply roll with the flow, allowing you and your students to be at your most successful.

14. Don't be afraid of failure and most of all Learning from that failure. Being able to be reflective and taking responsibility for a lesson gone south, but also being able to change your lessons to cater to the needs of our ever changing students, because failure happens and it's okay to say this isn't working and make the changes. It is also beneficial for our students to see that things may not always go right, but here's how you handle making work.

*This one isn't necessarily a quality of the teacher, but more importantly a quality of those that they choose to surround themselves with.
15. Every teacher needs a great support system. Making sure that you surround yourself with the people that will help you is vital. Picking people who you can seek advice from, get encouragement from, vent to, laugh with, and love you even on the days when you only want to hide under your desk due to wild children and poor choices you made. These people are the people who will push you through when you feel as though you are done, they will remind you why you do what you do each and every day, because there will be days you need them!

16. Keeping good physical and mental health. We spend our days worrying about those great minds we mold and many times we forget to take care of ourselves. You can only do your best, which means staying healthy, exercising to reduce stress, eating healthy, drinking plenty of water, giving your brain and self restful down town, and most of all (best for our mental health) having fun and laughing in and out of school. Healthy teachers help make happier teachers.

There are a few more thoughts on my list, but sometimes I feel that these had become more of a survival quality.
One of the things I enjoyed most about this list was how much our author clearly admired the teachers he was working with and found those qualities he enjoyed most about them. which brings me to final quality:
17. Have a great role models, strive to learn from them, with the goal of being at "that level."  Let the qualities you admire most in your role models be your compass for your learning and teaching adventure.

	Trait	ranking	Comments
1	Passion	1.5	Every once and a while I have to go looking for it again
2	Love of Kids	1	My best reminder- it’s the little things
3	Love for art	1.5	Most days :)
4	Understanding of the role of a school in a child's life	2	it's getting more clear with each year I teach
5	Willingness to change	2	I can sometimes resist to change because I can be uncomfortable
6	Work ethic	2	when I loose this it's my support team who reminds me of it
7	Willingness to reflect	2	sometimes "come to Jesus" moments can be hard to have with yourself, but it has gotten easier over time
8	Organization	2	It was going better before I was made to change… see below
9	Understanding that being a great teacher is a constant struggle to always improve	2	It's the motivation that can sometimes lack
10	Enough ego to survive the hard days	2	I can tend to doubt myself causing trouble
11	Enough humility to remember it's not about you	2	most days.
12	A willingness to work collaboratively	2	This is a two way street, but some days it can feel like a one way street.
13	Ability to be flexible	2	most days
14	Don't be afraid of failure	2	failure is not easy to swallow when it happens
15	Support System	1	The best around
16	Good Health	2.5	Still working on this being more of a priority
17	Having great role models	1.5	Most days I try to be those I admire
	1-Excelling, have strategies in place to maintain this level
	2-Good, developing strategies
	3-Fair, about half the time
	4-Need Support

I would very much agree with the qualities listed in our article, In fact #1-4 are for me the most important qualities you need everyday!  I find #8 to be a challenge for me, since my brain does not always work in the same was as my colleagues and especially my administration, It can stand out to some that my "organization" is not like theirs. However the way I organize works very well for me. 95% I know where things are within a minute of being asked for them, but I also believe in organized clutter. Over the last few years, and also because my administration said it's "their way" or a PIP I have had to change more organizational habits to look more like everyone else and to make the art room appear more similar to everyone else. This has resulted in mainly confusion on my part (where did I put that? where was it that I thought it belong to be more 'organized'?) but admittedly it has helped in a few aspects that I never knew I needed to fix (like having a clean desk in the mornings allows me to feel more prepared and less cluttered in my mind~ Unless of course I can remember where I 'organized' that handout to etc.). As I read these qualities, I was able to reflect upon myself and the work of my colleagues, some came to mind as great with a particular quality and others came to mind as someone who desperately needed to work on that quality. The beginning disclaimer "great teachers are as different as the students they teach" explains the real truth of it all, what makes us great and what makes a great team is that we all have different qualities that create greatness and the most conducive learning environment possible.