James Dzichko

The effectiveness of an educator is best measured through an assessment of their  approach to content and instruction as well as their relationship with their students. A deep understanding of content area knowledge and comprehension of teaching standards are both imperative, but these tools are useless if unrefined by more meaningful practice. It is not enough to merely be knowledgeable, an effective teacher needs to be flexible in their overall development of units, adaptable to individual lessons not going according to plan, and dynamic in their appeal to different styles of learning while maintaining preparedness with detailed lesson plans, accessible resources, and classroom activities that support diverse learners. Above all, dedicated educators require the foundational traits of being open-minded and reflective in order to temper the steel of their skills within the ever changing environment of the classroom forge. This culminates in taking full responsibility for their work and its impact on student learning, subsequently collaborating with peers to enhance personal strengths and remedy individual weaknesses for the betterment of the school community as a whole. An outstanding teaching professional will always remember that learning is an ongoing process for all members of the school community including themself.