Characteristics of an Effective Educator

Being an effective educator means so many things. An effective educator has sufficient knowledge of the subject they are teaching as well as a general knowledge of a variety of subjects so they can integrate different types of curriculum. They have decent experience working with and speaking with children. Effective educators are patient, kind, understanding and care about the outcome of their daily interactions with children and understand the power that they hold when being an educator. In my opinion educators hold an immense amount of power in their hand when they are interacting with children and ignorance of this power is extremely dangerous. This power is not just the power to educate academically but the power to influence and imprint on the lives of children. The smallest interaction to a teacher could be the moment that child or teen remembers forever, this type of power needs to be remembered among all interactions. Although a basic skill set is necessary and an effective educator is someone who is always looking for ways to be a better educator. With academics always changing and new advances being made in several fields an effective educator needs to be up to date on these changes. Not only in the academic aspect of teaching does an educator need to strive for better. Teachers need to attempt self-awareness every day and realize that they have bias that could be effecting the way they treat students in their class. Being aware of bias and your specific lens through which you see the world can be the first step in overcoming it and being the best educator you can be.