Master Education needs Master Teachers...

Teaching is a profession in which your responsibilities on the first day of your career are equal to your responsibilities on the last day. A master teacher is someone with an aware combination of skills, passion, effectiveness and successful habits.

1. They are flexible. Master teachers do not teach the same units, the same year, the same way. They constantly adapt to each classroom.

2. They monitor. They regularly ask for feedback from their students about what is working and what is not.

3. They investigate. Master teachers seek out, glean from, and support other teachers’ ideas. They take the best that others have to offer and infuse themselves into it to create something new and exciting.

4. They are perceptive. Master teachers are situationally aware, knowing how to work a room. They have a sixth sense about where each student is physically in the classroom and what they are doing or thinking. It reflects a level of classroom management that goes beyond procedures and routines based on a high understanding between teacher and student.

5. They are original. Master teachers develop an innovator’s mindset. They avoid complacency by trying new things in and out of the classroom.

6. They are responsive. Master teachers do not use the curriculum; they tailor the course to the needs of their students. They do not teach “by the book”, they teach “by the students”.

7. They share. Master teachers share their best practices and strategies with others to benefit all students and colleagues.

8. They are humble. Master teachers approach their work with humility. They seek out nearby mentor teachers willing to enter into continuing conversations. They seek out advanced degree programs and courses of their field.

9. They are self-guided. Master teachers are autonomous. They welcome open dialogue with colleagues on self-improvement. Their focus is always toward self-assessment.

10. They are interested in who you are, not what you know. Master teachers forge authentic relationships and get to know their students on a personal level in and out of the classroom, talking to them about their passions and interests anytime it is possible.