By far, the most popular posts on this blog have been the ones on my favorite Inspirational Videos for Students and Teachers. I have compiled lists of additional videos on my Pinterest boards with these titles, and I am, thankfully, always finding more to add. I was delving deeper into the Just Start blog that I referenced in an earlier post about the Zen Pencils Design Challenge, and found this video from Madison Public Schools, “What Makes a Good Teacher.” It’s interesting to hear the perspectives of students of all different ages who seem to agree on a lot of the same criteria for good teachers. I wish Wordle had a feature where you could play some audio and it would make a word cloud showing the traits that were repeated the most! (Fun and Inspiring would definitely be two standouts!)
I was happy to hear only one child said a good teacher needs to be young. (Well, only one child who made the final cut of the video, anyway!) Another child seemed pretty adamant that magical powers are a necessity. “Athletic” was another attribute that is questionable in my case. One student intrigued me by mentioning her teacher’s use of “Homeworkopoly”, which is rather specific, but sounds like something I would like to try.
My favorite quote, though, was from the girl who said that a good teacher would, “help me embrace my inner self.” In the end, I hope that each of my students feels that way about me – regardless of my age, inability to run a marathon, or complete ignorance of any helpful charms, potions, or spells. 😉
