Accomplished Teachers Know their Subjects

Do you really know the content of your subject area?

If you consider yourself a good teacher, just how good are you? Take this quiz and see how well you do:

1. Do you know your content - its standards, processes, scope and sequence?
2. Have you kept current with the new trends, style and substance for your content area? 
3. Do you belong to a professional organization for teaching your subject?
4. Have you subscribed to any professional journals?
5. How do you differentiate in order to meet the needs of all of your students?
6. Do you keep current in your content by attending professional development workshops to improve your practice?
7. What was the last book that you read in your subject area?

Don't feel badly if you come up short in any of these areas. As teachers, however, we have a gift of time each summer to improve our teaching skills. That is, if we want to be seen as accomplished. One of the elements that is necessary to be recognized as accomplished is knowing your content and also knowing how to share that content with your students. The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) lists this as its second core proposition:

Teachers know the subjects that they teach, and know how to teach those subjects to their students.

How close are you to being an accomplished teacher?

  

It's Never too Late to Learn

Now that summer has arrived and school is winding down, we have more time  to concentrate on honing our teaching skills. There are lots of opportunities around to gain information on strategies and techniques for the classroom.

Here are some sources for professional development:

1. Check with the teacher's union - many local chapters of teachers' unions have summer programs available for teachers. Call the union office or check with the latest issue of the union newsletter to get information on these courses.
2. Go to the professional development section of your school district's website. You will probably find a listing of some classes that you can take during the summer. The great thing about these is that they directly connect with your subject and grade content and standards base.
3. Check out the local college or university offerings. These institutions frequently have several sessions of summer programs to pick from - find out their summer schedules and jump in! Many colleges and universities have discounts available for teachers, too.
4. Online courses are sometimes available through colleges year round. Summer is a great time to orient yourself to online learning to see if it's a good fit for your particular learning style.
5. Refresh yourself by rereading your copies of college texts  or books that you've bought from the bookstore. This information can supplement your subject content and reinforce the skills that you may already have.

In short, summer is a great time to get a start on additional skills training, beginning a master's or doctorate program or just keeping your mind fresh and alive. Stretch those brain cells (just like we tell our students!)