CW Magazine-Winter Edition | Page 7

"I believe students should be engaged in most of the talking and I should be engaged in most of the listening.” All students benefit from dialogue, rather than monologue. Students need the opportunity to ask questions and clear up these misconceptions. “I believe in providing a challenging curriculum where I hold and support high expectations for all students.” Teachers plan how to engage students in the challenge of learning and go beyond just breaking a challenge into manageable bits. "I believe I am responsible for facilitating positive relationships with students, staff and families, which are essential to effective teaching and learning processes.” Teacher need to have a positive interpersonal relationship with each student, and students need to feel the classroom environment is trustworthy, fair, and empathetic. “I believe that as I partner with parents, I must explicitly inform parents of the ‘language of learning’ to ensure their success in navigating school expectations.” When parents understand the language of learning, they are better equipped to help their children. Belief in Reciprocal Dialogue “Do I truly listen to my students’ questions, ideas, struggles, strategies of learning, successes, interaction with peers, outputs, and views about teaching? ” “Do I engage students in the challenge of learning?” Belief in Challenging Curriculum “Can students see the purposes of the challenges that are so critical to learning success?” “How can I create a high level of trust in the classroom? ” Belief in Positive Relationships “Do my students feel safe to readily indicate that they do not understand?” “How can I support parents to help their children attend and engage in learning?” Belief in Teacher-Parent Partnerships “Do parents understand learning rationale and success critera?” 7