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Running Head: WHAT IS GOOD TEACHING?

What is Good Teaching?

Caleb Austin

Dr. McGuffey

EDUC 103

Wittenberg University

I _____________ affirm that my work upholds the highest standards of honesty and academic
integrity at Wittenberg, and that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance.
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WHAT IS GOOD TEACHING
Education is the most powerful weapon for changing the world. -Nelson Mandela (SABC

Digital News).

PERSONAL STORY

In todays age there is a problem that the whole world faces, especially in the United

States. There is a lack of good teachers. Good teachers are the base of education and the base of

the world. Teachers are used to educate students from how to behave, to preparing them to

become brain surgeons. Good teachers are not strictly confined to a classroom and for children.

There are many names that we give teachers such as educators, tutors, coaches, trainers, mentors,

guides, instructors, gurus, and counselors. These names make up different kinds of teachers. The

great teachers in these categories all have certain characteristics that make them stand out from

the rest. I have had certain teachers that have changed my life and stood out to me as an amazing

teacher due to their passion and innovation.

I had a biology teacher, Mrs. Bockrath, who used her passion for biology to create a

positive learning environment in the classroom. She wanted us to go on field trips, do exciting

labs, and made the lessons and assignments entertaining so her students would become

passionate learners. She was knowledgeable about biology and she did a great job of pushing us

to be successful students. One of the things that students enjoyed the most was that she was

innovative. She would come up with quirky songs to help us remember certain things and make

us do the motions. She came up with fun and creative review games.

Mrs. Bockrath made students participate in good study habits. With everything that Mrs.

Bockrath did, the students wanted to learn because she changed the social aspect of the whole

classroom. One thing I liked was after a test before we received them she would tally everyones

grades, marking down the number of As, Bs, Cs, Ds, and Fs in our class. This is something
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that doesnt seem like a big deal, but it affected me personally and the whole class. I always

wanted to be the best and make sure I was always one of the As. It also pushed other students

when they realized they were not doing as good as the other students.

I had Mrs. Bockrath my sophomore and junior year in high school. I was going back and

forth trying to figure out what I was going to do the rest of my life and study in college. At the

time I was thinking about becoming a physical therapist. My freshman biology teacher was bad

and made me not like science. However, when I had Mrs. Bockrath she brought joy into learning

about science and made me very passionate about science. I became determined to become a

science teacher that would inspire students just the way Mrs. Bockrath had done with me.

RESEARCH

Passion is a huge part of teaching. A teacher who is passionate can help students absorb

information faster than a teacher who doesnt teach with as much passion and enthusiasm.

Passion in teachers makes students want to learn and have them perform to their potential

(Benekos 2016). Mrs. Bockrath used her passion to make me become a more active learner and

even passed some of her passion on to me.

There are two different types of passion, harmonious and obsessive passion. Harmonious

passion is in people who just love to do they do. These people feel in control of their work, feel

good about themselves while working, and find their work to be in harmony with their other

activities. There is another type of passion though called obsessive passion. Those who are

obsessively passionate feel an uncontrollable urge to engage in their work, feel more conflict

between their passion and other areas in their life, and their work becomes a huge part of their

negative and even unstable lifestyle. In Work & Stress obsessive passion was compared to

harmonious passion to determine if passion is enough to not get burned out when teaching.
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Obsessive passion led to teachers getting burnt out while harmonious passion led to keeping a

flame alive in teaching (Fernet 2014). When focused so hard on something it can cause one to

get frustrated and lose interest in that subject or field.

Passion causes people to go the extra mile and follow through with things even when

they become difficult. Teachers with passion are willing to connect with students and their

families. When this occurs, it creates a stronger community. There are also children who benefit

a lot from knowing that someone cares for them. This is especially important in lower income

and inner-city schools where there is a lack of good passionate teachers. The students who would

benefit the most and require greater attention are the students in the schools with less passionate

teachers (Greenberger 2016).

Innovation is an important part in teaching. Innovation is something that can take

teaching to a whole new level. Mrs. Bockrath would have us do some anatomy games on the

iPads. This allowed us to get a better idea how things work inside the human body. While the

teaching being innovated it is also the teachers job to come up with ways to make the students

innovative. Challenging students is a way to make students try new things and help them learn in

day to day activities (Edwards, R. A., Kirwin, J., Gonyeau, M., Matthews, S. J., Lancaster, J., &

DiVall, M. 2014).

Technology is a part of innovation within the classroom. An important quote that goes

with innovation and technology is, Any innovation in technology must be integrated with

innovation in pedagogy (Kazoka, D., & Pilmane, M. 2017, p 45) This is important because

without pedagogy the technology will not be able to reach its potential for helping students learn.

A teacher being able to be innovative and integrating technology into a classroom has a

multitude of benefits. Technology in the classroom makes learning more fun fore students. The
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use of technology also prepares students for the future. Students do not have to take a technology

class to become better in technology. By implementing technology within the classroom,

students will learn how to use new technology and be better suited for their future. Technology

has been proven to help improve retention rate of materials. Another added benefit is that

technology can help students by learning at their own pace. Technology can also be helpful to

students with physical and learning disabilities (Pai, D. D., & Borba, G. S. 2012).

IDEAL SCHOOL

If I were to design my school, the building would be beautiful with lots of colors making

it cozy and homey. I would be making a K-12 building for my school district. I think this helps

build a community feeling and helps with stewardship in every student. It is also great for older

students to help younger students. This helps both the older students and the younger students.

The school would be built on a big plot of land. The facility would be set up so that there is easy

access to all the different sport fields and classrooms. There would be a lot of parking spaces and

would have great athletic facilities. This would be great for our sports teams as well as the school

and community. With great athletic facilities our school would be able to host tournament games.

This would create income for the school and athletic facilities.

My school would start at eight forty-five in the morning. This would give students more

time to sleep. There has been research done that students have less tardiness when the school

time is later in the day. There are also fewer absences when students have more time to sleep in.

There are also increased health benefits for the children. Lastly, grades of students who start

school later have better grades compared to students who start earlier (Wolfson, A. R.,

Spaulding, N. L., Dandrow, C., & Baroni, E. M. 2007).


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I would have large classrooms for lots of different arrangements and activities. There

would be an outstanding playground. I think that a schools playground is one of the most

important places in a school. The kids need to have a place that engages them in physical activity

and is safe, so they can focus later in the day. There would also be a very nice fitness center for

the school. The fitness center would help the sports teams, students, staff, and community stay

healthy. The playground and fitness center would be accessible to the community. I think that

this is important for the community to help become stewards of the school.

The class rooms would be state of the art with the newest technology implemented. I

would have a greenhouse where students could learn about plants and conduct lots of

experiments. The green house would also serve fresh fruit in the cafeteria. In the science end of

the building there would also be a lot of animals. There would be a little aquarium with fish and

there would also be other small animals. The science animal lab room would look like a very

organized pet store. This would be put into place because it would make sciences more exciting

for students. Not just high school students but even the elementary students would be able to

come and do fun experiments as well. The science area would be a hub for fun learning. The

greatest part is that students would do research project in their science classes. They would use

reading, English and math skills along with their scientific knowledge to become well rounded

students and learn.

The school would have great materials and be a great facility to promote learning and

success for students. However, creating a great school is not only dependent on the materials the

school has. This school would have great teachers. Teachers who are not only passionate about

what they teach but passionate about changing the world through educating children and young

adults. The teachers would be innovative always trying to come up with new and better ways for
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their students to learn. The teachers would use new technology in their rooms to help students

learn and become familiar with new technology.

We are not always in control of the overall quality of our school buildings and processing

all the newest and best things. However, we can fill our schools with good teacher to help change

the world. The good teachers that I have had guide their students differently, serve different

needs, and express their knowledge in a manner that allows for students to understand the

content. There is something to be learned from every good teacher so keep your eyes open to

discover, What is good teaching?


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REFERENCES

Benekos, P. J. (2016). How to be a good teacher: Passion, person, and pedagogy. Journal of

Criminal Justice Education, 27(2), 225-237. doi:10.1080/10511253.2015.1128703

Edwards, R. A., Kirwin, J., Gonyeau, M., Matthews, S. J., Lancaster, J., & DiVall, M. (2014). A

reflective teaching challenge to motivate educational innovation. American Journal of

Pharmaceutical Education, 78(5), 1-7.

Fernet, C., Lavigne, G. L., Vallerand, R. J., & Austin, S. (2014). Fired up with passion:

Investigating how job autonomy and passion predict burnout at career start in teachers.

Work & Stress, 28(3), 270-288. doi:10.1080/02678373.2014.935524

Greenberger, S. (2016). A comparison of passion and teaching modality. Journal of Educators

Online, 13(1), 172-193

Kazoka, D., & Pilmane, M. (2017). Teaching and learning innovation in present and future

anatomy course at rsu. Papers on Anthropology, 26(2), 44-52.

doi:10.12697/poa.2017.26.2.05

Pai, D. D., & Borba, G. S. (2012). The role of digital technologies for the innovation of the

learning experience in the university classroom. Strategic Design Research Journal, 5(2),

59-69. doi:10.4013/sdrj.2012.52.01

SABC Digital News. (2013, December 11) Education is the most important weapons: Nelson

Mandela [Video File] retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0w_PFEl1zs

Wolfson, A. R., Spaulding, N. L., Dandrow, C., & Baroni, E. M. (2007). Middle school start

times: The importance of a good night's sleep for young adolescents. Behavioral Sleep

Medicine, 5(3), 194-209. doi:10.1080/15402000701263809

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