The Secret of Attitude- Kate Martin

Attitude is a very important feature when determining the effectiveness of a teacher or professional in general. A positive attitude will better serve teachers and they should do their best to model this attitude both for students and adults. Your day will go so much better if you put a positive spin on it and do everything in your power to remain upbeat. Negative teachers feed into problems in the classroom an escalate situations unnecessarily. These ineffective teachers make their own lives more difficult by doing this and often don’t realize they're being negative.

I believe it is the responsibility of the adult in the classroom to be a student advocate and remain professional in all circumstances. Part of being professional is knowing how to carry yourself in front of students and adults. You are the role model in the classroom and students look to you for guidance, support, and to determine acceptable behaviors. You are in a fishbowl from the time you walk in to the time you leave the building. Students will see your attitude and will feed off of the energy you portray. Often times, a teacher is the only positive influence on a student’s life. Students with bad home-lives often look to teachers as caring adults, and teachers can make a huge difference in these situations simply by being encouraging and optimistic when interacting with the student. You can’t push your bad day on your students and be considered an effective teacher. Even when you’re having a difficult time, you need to fake a dynamic attitude to best educate the students.

It is also important to conduct yourself professionally when conversing with adults in the building. If you want to be taken seriously and move up in the building/district, it is important for you to be a positive influence. No one will recommend you if they know you are a whiner or complainer, and principals won’t want you in their district if you cannot conduct acceptable conversations with other faculty members. Already in my placements I have seen negative teachers gossiping about students in the teacher’s lounge. It was actually really surprising to me, because I had respected those educators before that instance. Now (I hate to admit it) I have lost some respect for them as professionals and I am determined to never end up that way. I need to stay away from all of those negative conversations to the best of my ability so I’m not associated with those negative people. I want to be considered an effective teacher, which might mean I stay away from the teacher’s lounge during lunch and instead focus my attention on self reflection and lesson plans.