Inspired Teacher Defined

An Inspired Teacher is passionate about…

• Teaching
• The academic and social success of students. 
• The subject matter. 
• Providing intellectually stimulating content, and challenging students to achieve beyond their perceived limits.

An Inspired Teacher is a relationship builder who…

• Establishes a genuine, positive relationship with every student. 
• Builds a true classroom community in which students behave not because they are afraid of punishment, or because they seek a reward, but because they know they are valued members of that community. 
• Facilitates trust among students, and between students and staff. 
• Demonstrates an exceptional commitment to teaching children the skills and attitudes that will enable them to thrive. 
• Teaches students strategies for preventing and solving conflicts. 
• Inspires students to take risks as part of the learning process, and allows – even encourages – students to make mistakes within a setting that is understanding and accepting.

An Inspired Teacher is a skilled observer who…

• Takes children seriously as evidenced by listening intently to students’ ideas and concerns, responding to student comments with respect, and incorporating their input into classroom activities. 
• Offers consistent and meaningful feedback to students and shows them how to use that feedback to learn more. 
• Continuously assesses student learning using an array of tools and multiple opportunities that represent the diversity of individual students. 
• Pays attention to the success of the whole child. 
• Teaches students to engage in self-assessment.

An Inspired Teacher is an enthusiastic learner who…

• Is well-versed in the subject matter, has many methods of enabling students to learn it, and develops exciting ways of involving students in the learning process. 
• Plans each lesson thoughtfully with a clear goal in mind, and is able to make spontaneous adjustments based on the ways students respond to the lesson. 
• Is an experimenter, a scientist, who embraces mistakes as valuable learning experiences, and refines lessons in real-time based on what is learned with each trial.

An Inspired Teacher is a reflective practitioner who…

• Engages in ongoing self-evaluation and reflection. 
• Constantly challenges their own beliefs and practice. 
• Generously shares ideas and strategies with colleagues. 
• Actively seeks out formal and informal professional development activities to improve their teaching practice. 
• Embraces new challenges. 
• Knows when and how to practice self-care.

An Inspired Teacher is a true facilitator who gets the most out of students by…

• Expecting students to be intellectually — and often physically — active. 
• Asking thought-provoking questions as a constant part of the teaching process. 
• Using questions to share experiences and bring the world into the classroom. 
• Guiding students to generate their own high-level questions. 
• Encouraging students to uncover and synthesize information as the primary instructional strategy. 
• Knowing when to push students to learn and when to move out of the way so they can learn on their own. 
• Establishing and maintaining high expectations by holding students accountable. 
• Valuing students’ ideas and intellect far more than their obedience.