Flexibility
I believe that one of the most important traits (if not the most important trait) a teacher needs to have is flexibility.
As teachers we cannot control many things in our classroom: whether children have had breakfast or a goodnight sleep, staff absence, the weather, the moods of children, friendships, arguments, what's in children's lunchboxes, staff personal struggles and personal life, the family life children. And another important thing I regularly remind myself is that children will not always tell you either. They may not tell you about the depression at home, or the empty cupboards, or the big argument they had with their bestie yesterday, or mum hitting their sister that morning just before school. Just like they will not tell you about their Aunty throwing them up in the air at the swimming pool and them laughing so hard they cried, they may not tell you about their brand new matchbox car or how they got to watch a lamb being born.
As teachers, we not have control over everything, but we can always have control over how we deal with different situations in the classroom and in the school. Flexibility allows us to take a step back and really tailor our teaching behaviours and activities to suit the needs of the children and teacher for that day, or that session.
If a teacher openly demonstrates flexibility, then I believe that shows children that things can be changed and made to suit the needs of others on the day. Hopefully, this will reduce anxiety for those children who struggle with change or doing things in a different order.
As teachers we cannot control many things in our classroom: whether children have had breakfast or a goodnight sleep, staff absence, the weather, the moods of children, friendships, arguments, what's in children's lunchboxes, staff personal struggles and personal life, the family life children. And another important thing I regularly remind myself is that children will not always tell you either. They may not tell you about the depression at home, or the empty cupboards, or the big argument they had with their bestie yesterday, or mum hitting their sister that morning just before school. Just like they will not tell you about their Aunty throwing them up in the air at the swimming pool and them laughing so hard they cried, they may not tell you about their brand new matchbox car or how they got to watch a lamb being born.
As teachers, we not have control over everything, but we can always have control over how we deal with different situations in the classroom and in the school. Flexibility allows us to take a step back and really tailor our teaching behaviours and activities to suit the needs of the children and teacher for that day, or that session.
If a teacher openly demonstrates flexibility, then I believe that shows children that things can be changed and made to suit the needs of others on the day. Hopefully, this will reduce anxiety for those children who struggle with change or doing things in a different order.
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