Teaching is a very hands-on profession that demands tremendous preparation, thought, and dedication. The follow-through with home work, papers to grade, quizzes, tests, and standardized testing is often quite tedious demanding teachers to spend much thought time beyond the hours of the school day.

Many of my mentors stated that the first step towards wisdom is teaching another person what you know. The art of teaching is just that-teaching all you know to someone else and watching them respond to the information you are giving them. The teacher is the person with the information. The student is the person who wants the information. Thus, what happens when a teacher does not want to give the information or the students does not want to receive the information? The situation is known as day care.

Reflecting at the end of each teaching week upon what you have accomplished the previous five days and what needs to be improved is critical to successful teaching. It is important to step away from a situation as intimate as teaching and review how one might have done things differently or how one is going to approach the problem next week. This time of reflection is many times overlooked; however, most teachers have weekends and vacation time to “charge their batteries,” take motivating courses, or meet motivating mentors and gurus who can bring new vision and purpose to what one is doing with their students.

It is important for each teacher to remember that your students are only going to experience you at this point in their education, and your class is an important building block in the sequence of learning toward each student's graduation. There is no substitute for you and the quality of your teaching in the classroom. Your students have only you to help them during this school year.

Feelings and thoughts drive student behavior. Feelings and thoughts drive teacher behavior. Both students and teachers need to know that there is respect and trust for each other from the first day of school. Only with respect and trust will teachers and students grow stronger throughout the school year.

Schools are about quality teaching. Homes are about quality parenting. Teachers and parents must continue to find healthy avenues for communication on a daily basis to help students grow and stay healthy mentally, emotionally, and physically. I have assembled a series of thoughts, reflections, and insights to motivate teachers and encourage dynamic teaching and learning. I hope you find these helpful in your daily challenges.

Larry D. Allen