When I consider what I know about being a good teacher, I only have the experience of the student perspective to go off of. I worked in a classroom for a couple months this summer and I did learn a lot by observing the teacher I was paired with, but I hardly think that makes me qualified to give advice as if I know what I am talking about. But, as I said, I do know what it is like to be on the receiving end of teaching, and that is a valuable perspective to consider.
My senior year of high school was rough. I had just lost my cross-country coach very suddenly right before school started, and I felt very alone. Up until that year, I hadn’t really had close relationships with my teachers. I hadn’t needed to.
Suddenly I found that I needed more support at school. I was struggling to get through the day. It was my economics teacher who stepped in. He let me come to his classroom when I was having a hard time. He listened to me when I had no one to talk to. He was kind to me. He opened up about his own mental health struggles when appropriate and made me feel less alone. When I was going through a particularly difficult time, we happened to be going on a field trip to New York City and he knew I had always wanted to sit on the Wall Street bull statue. Even though there were tourists everywhere, we got to the front and he helped me up so we could get a picture (probably/definitely broke some rules but whatever). I still smile when I see that picture.
I had lots of good teachers, but only my economics teacher really stands out to me as having a significant impact on my life. And here’s the point, the most important thing he did was be there for me. That’s the advice I would give new teachers: try to be there for your students. I can’t really advise on classroom management skills and how to write lesson plans and all that, but I do know teachers are sometimes the only people students have to turn to. There are so many qualities and skills that go into being a good teacher. But at the end of the day what made the biggest difference for me as a student was that my teacher cared about me.
I still keep in touch with my teacher and we get pancakes when I go home to visit.
Sarah Sykora 