What role does professional satisfaction play in the effectiveness of a classroom?
Professional satisfaction plays a huge role in the effectiveness of a classroom. When a teacher comes to school with positive energy and is excited to teach, not only does that benefit themselves, but to their colleagues, students and the community as well (Burgess, Loc 1772). Students know when you’re passionate about something. They pick up on your level of excitement and want to work. According to the article “Motivating Students,” students who are not motivated will not learn effectively. They won’t retain information, they won’t participate and some of them may even become disruptive. I think that when a teacher comes to school with a negative attitude, it demotivates the students to learn. Teaching a class full of motivating students is satisfying for both the teacher and the students.
Burgess talks about reasons why some teachers hesitate to be great. His first example is the fear of failure. I agree that as a life-long learner, you cannot grow, advance, or move forward without making mistakes and learning from them (Burgess, loc 1860). Another point Burgess makes is lack of focus. All teachers talk about not having enough time in the day. Great work is not done in a day, and allowing our students to do their best work is more meaningful. One of the things he talks about, that I confess is one of my weaknesses, is fear of criticism (loc, 1929). During my first year of teaching, I was afraid of being criticized by parents. In the end I learned that they loved what I was doing. “The best way to solidify your commitment to achieving your goals is also to take action” (Burgess, loc 1997).
In the article “Motivating Students,” it talks about five effective ways to engage students. Which are, encourage students, get them involved, offer incentives, get creative, and draw connections to real life. When I was reading this article, I thought if a teacher does these things as well as the student, everyone is satisfied.
I have been very blessed to work with awesome colleagues. One of the things Burgess talks about is collaborating with other teachers (loc, 2018). “Collaboration can make all contributors better teachers as they are exposed to others’ ideas…” Whenever I’m stuck, or need advice, I go to my colleagues. Everyone is creative in their own way, and sometimes its good to get ideas from people who think differently. According to the article, “Teacher Collaboration in Secondary Schools” teachers who work together, reduce their individual planning time, and at the same time, create a “pool of ideas and materials.” Another benefit that came from teacher collaboration was a decline in staff turnover by providing assistance to all new and veteran teachers. This is especially tough in rural Alaskan schools because teacher turnover is high. If we can improve our relationships in school (and outside) maybe that rate will decline.
Resources:
Burgess, D. (n.d.). Teach like a pirate: Increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educator.
Motivating Students. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://teach.com/what/teachers-change-lives/teachers-motivate
Teacher Collaboration in Secondary Schools. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://ncrve.berkeley.edu/centerfocus/cf2.html
gkkapatak01 
Great point, we need to collaborate more with each other. We need to intentionally make this happen, it doesn’t happen by accident.
LikeLike
Genevieve- I like this what you wrote, “Qualitative Research is a good lens through which to view classroom research because the individual (teacher) doing the research wants to understand their (students) experiences, how they construct their worlds, and what they characterize their experience as (Merriam, page 5). Is that what you are doing your research on classdojo? That sounds very interesting? What is it? I think I have heard of it before but never checked it out. I will have to check it out.
LikeLike
Class dojo is a simple management tool that provides positive feedback to the students and parents. I will be doing my research on it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds interesting! I will have to check it out some time.
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing the article about motivating students. I agree that if students are encouraged, involved, have incentive, are creative, and can relate what they learn to real life, they will be excited about learning. I like that the list is concise and easy to follow. It is definitely something I am going to think about as I write my lesson plans, design units and teach. Will I always be successful? No. But, it’s something to strive for and try to achieve.
LikeLike
I agree, when a person is negative the people around them start to either become negative themselves or they just don’t want to be there. The energy of the teacher creates an environment for the students that are there. We need to remember that even if we are having a bad day, it doesn’t mean that we need to pass it onto our students. Always approaching teaching with a positive attitude can not only help the students, but will help ourselves to lower the stress level that comes with our profession. Even the environment within the building can change drastically when there is even one negative teacher among the staff.
LikeLike