What makes great teaching?

    Entering this class I wasn't sure what to expect. When I found out that we would be doing blog assignments my stomach dropped. I don't know about y'all but I never was a huge fan of discussion posts and this just seemed the same to me. At the end of this course, I am happy to say that the blogs were probably my favorite part of this entire class. I think it helps that I feel passionate about the topics covered throughout the semester that I was excited to write about them. But the best part had to be learning from my peers. Getting to see others' experiences and learning from them is such a privilege. This class humbled me and taught me what kind of teacher I want to be for my future students. 

    For this week we had to select our top five favorite strategies and I think this was the first week I struggled. Blogging is definitely my first but I also want to talk about the other four methods that stood out to me this semester. 

    One of the last methods we learned this semester, but on my list is the black-out poem. The black-out poem assignment asked us to read an article and black out words that didn't stand out as much to us. The words that were left then created our poem known as a black-out poem. It worked for me because when I read it back I saw what words were important to me and it created a powerful poem. In school, I always enjoyed reading poetry but struggled to start from scratch. Using this method with our students will be a fun way to demonstrate poetry and simplify it a little. To create something with someone else's creation is a beautiful thing.

    Next had to be the golden lines. While similar to blackout in the sense that you pull out something from a reading, it is a bit different. In this case, we selected a phrase or sentence that impacted us from our readings and shared it with the class. We also created a poem out of a handful of golden lines which was a fun way to see everything we learned. What I love the most about this skill though is when you share it. In reading my classmate's golden lines I was able to be reminded of certain things or to simply be taught points that I might have overlooked. And seeing what impacted us the most was wonderful.

    Then it was the Do's and Don'ts. We used this method when learning about protecting our trans youth within the class. This method is one I will definitely be using not only for myself but as guidelines for my students. While many of us are already educated on what is appropriate and what isn't, our young students are barely starting out in this world. And naturally, they will make mistakes on our classroom journey. But, by having a list of do's and don'ts and educating them on topics it will foster a safe environment for every kind of student that enters our schools. Kids just need that extra step or explanation on how to act in society, especially at such a young age when everything is new. It is our duty to take on that role of teaching them and this method is simple and easy for them to follow.

    Finally, the word it-out assignment. What this assignment taught us the most was about ourselves. By selecting the words that held the most weight for us and plugging them into the Word it-out website, we saw what it means to us to be a teacher. For my cloud, the emphasized word was students. And that was just another reminder of what we are here for and it will always be the students. I am a HUGE visual learner. I have done assignments like this in grade school and I loved getting to visually see whatever topic we were talking about and seeing the ones my classmates created as well. By having this in the classroom we create another way to connect students with each other and to learn from one another.

    As I mentioned before it was difficult creating this list. I found myself agreeing with everything in the course and just becoming excited to implement these methods in my own classroom one day. But one common thing that is needed to successfully use these methods is to care. To go into the classroom every day ready to give it our all and to put the students first every time. I am thankful for everything I learned in this class and also from my classmates. I am excited for this next generation of teachers and I know we will kill it out there. Thank you everyone for everything! Wishing you all the best in your future as teachers.