How to Teach Fourth Grade, revisited.

There is no secret to teaching nine and ten-year old students. There is no magic bullet to create a positive learning environment for children. Elementary level teaching is foremost, hard work. That said, it is the most rewarding profession I can imagine. The following, in no specific order, is a body of thought on how I feel teachers should approach their craft. I  may not know much, but I do now how to teach littles. Special thanks to Angela Maiers, for inspiring me and reminding me what really matters.

Please feel free to add your comments.

Each day, teach:

• passion. Portray that there is no more interesting job other than teaching.
• empathy. Understanding others is unending and infinitely rewarding.
• awareness. Know thyself, it makes all the difference.
• simplicity.Thoreau wrote, “Simplify, Simplify, Simplify.” This alone makes a life well-lived.
• respect. Respect all who you come across, each day and be your own number-one fan.
• acceptance. Accept the things that are out of your control. You will soon find that most everything is out of your control.
• precision. Teach students precision and accuracy.
• optimism. Believe that the world is truly getting better each day.
• flexibility. Live in the moment, each moment.
• joy. Life is, for the most part, wonderful. Have fun.
• forgiveness. Forgive yourself and others each day.
• technique. Pay heed to more effective approaches and learn from those better than you.
• control. Be yourself. Try desperately to never lose your cool.
• finesse. Communicate with precision, specificity, foresight and clarity. Think always before speaking.
• perspective. Learn to quickly prioritize whilst teaching.
• humility. Life is incredibly humbling. I am discovering this more and more each day.
• praise. Compliment others as well as yourself each day.
• humor. Be the class clown. All love to laugh.
• an appreciation for timing. Understand that the human brain acquires information in small chunks. Moderate your lectures.
• reflection. Reflect each day and learn from your practice.
• excellence. Do not accept consistently substandard work from yourself, students or colleagues.
• need for clarity. Be clear and know that the smartest kid in your class needs to hear something three times before it can “sink in.”
• meaning. Make every learning encounter meaningful to the greatest number of students. Use props, tell stories, analogize daily.
• by example Read, write, and appreciate the beauty of mathematics.
• with spunk. Smile often and enjoy what you do. There is no alternative.
• focus. Be aware of the enduring understandings of each lesson.
• process. Provide evidence of learning and demand that your student learn from each assessment.
• wonder. Learn something new each day. Celebrate simply each time.
• structure. Be time-bound and consistently excellent.
• media. Use media sparingly and only to further the task at hand.
• support. Encourage collaboration from students’ parents, administrative team and your peers. This job is impossible without their support.
• persistence. Never give up on anyone.
• hope. Get out of the business if you have little hope that the world is getting better.
• efficiency. Every moment counts. Make use of time wisely.
• authority. Be a model of positive living.
• poise. Model correct behavior as if your job depended upon each action.
• momentum. Realize that students are born with an innate need to learn. Feed off this and build momentum for an engaging classroom from day one.
• warmth. Be inviting to all that enter your workspace.
• enthusiasm. Do not be afraid to dance when excited, or happy. The kids love when an adult spontaneously “boogies.”
• poetry. Teach the students “poetry is like bread.” Enjoyed by all.
• reverence. Seek help from master teachers.

That is enough for now.