What Makes An Outstanding Teacher?

As I have been recently going through the job search process, time spent filling out applications has provided me with an opportunity to reflect on what I truly believe about teaching.

Many applications ask questions like, "How do you provide differentiation in your classroom?" or "What is your teaching philosophy?"  I've realized that my responses are looking quite different than five years ago, when I was a brand new teacher with little to no experience under my belt.  And I'm sure they would look even different five years from now.

One question asked was, "What makes an outstanding teacher?"  It's always beneficial to pause and think about the answer to this question.  In my opinion...

I believe that an outstanding teacher needs to be creative, flexible, skilled, willing to continue learning, and truly care about the well being of his or her students.  

A great teacher is creative and flexible.  Often I have noticed that my best ideas come while I am in the midst of teaching a lesson.  While I always have a lesson plan, sometimes I deviate from it if my teaching is not reaching students and I can see a better way to engage them in instruction.  It is important to be open to creativity and flexibility at all times. 

I believe that outstanding teachers should also be lifelong learners.  I am constantly searching for ways to improve my teaching skills through attending conferences, workshops, following good blogs, reading professional articles online, as well as continuing to take classes towards my masters degree.  

Finally, a teacher should truly care about the well-being of the students. At the end of the day, we are forming people and that is an immense and humbling task. We have to be able to see the person in front of us with their individual personalities and needs, to be able to reach them through forming a personal relationship with every student in our classrooms. Only after forming this trusting relationship can more effective learning take place.

As I look at my students and realize we only have nine days left, I see how far we have come in our short time together.  We've truly become a community.  We've learned together; even at their young age, they have taught me many things and made me a better teacher.  Even though I may not be coming back to kindergarten next year, I will remember every single one of them and the lessons they taught me as I continue to strive to become a better teacher.