Teachers who care get most from kids

From an article in the Detroit News last June, survey results demonstrate that students respond better in class to teachers who set high demands on the students and who care about the students' lives and work ethics. The newspaper argues that these results point out that teachers who are given a greater deal of autonomy in the classroom are the ones who are most able to provide a caring and compassionate environment for their students. If too much top-down management occurs in a school, then the students are not likely to see the same levels of personal interaction and academic rigor from their teachers.

I always like to use this analogy--remember back to your own days in school and think about your favorite teacher's class. Tell me one thing that you remember about that class. The thing that you remember is most likely not related to what you were taught in that class as much as it is related to who that teacher was and how she/he interacted with you and the other students. THAT is what teaching is really all about.

Surely all effective teachers cover a great deal of material and teach their students as much as they can about the subject, but it is the non-academic things that stick out in our minds. It is the love of the class and the enjoyment of the teacher that build our memories of school. It is not the year in which Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to U.S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, nor the year in which the Ottoman Turks began to lose their empire. The things we remember are the time that Mr. G had us make string art using our newfound knowledge of Geometry, or the fact that Mrs. C only had to call the first name on her roll and everyone automatically called HERE at the place their name would have been called (and the first time the class did that to the student-teacher!), or the time that Mr. M almost cussed in class because he tripped over the world map for the third time in ten minutes. THAT is the beauty of teaching AND of learning!!