What Makes a Good Teacher? 3 Questions Parents Should Ask Their Child's Teacher! School/Education Parenting
As a team of former teachers and current educational researchers who go into classrooms regularly, we are given the privilege to study what makes a good teacher. A number of studies prove that a good teacher is the single most important element in a child's education. Why? Because that teacher creates the daily learning experiences for our kids, selecting what is taught, choosing how it is taught, while shaping the way our kids work with one another, how they collaborate, how they discuss, and much more.
As such, many parents/friends often come to us and ask how they can know their child has a good teacher. I recommend you ask these questions:
- What kinds of experiences will my child have? This is critical. You are looking to hear these buzz words: "student-centered," "meaning-making," "choice," "cooperative," "collaborating," "creating."
- How do you go about individualizing instruction? You want to hear the terms: "varied instruction," "differentiation," or "build on what they know."
- What would your students say about your class? You want to hear the words "challenging," "engaging," "meaningful," "relevant" and '"fun."
While you can ask more but these questions are a great start.