What works well for me in class – 2-nd comment
What works well for me in class that the students say and my colleagues too, is my classroom management! That indeed I would consider a strength of mine because I always pay much attention in buiding that before and especially during class(es). It is not something easy depending on many, many reasons, but nothing impossible as well, for it only helps me a lot in doing my job properly and transmitting the message I want to my students – i.e. teach them what needs to be taught!
A specific example would be when I was teaching a grade 7/8 split class in a K-12 school in Toronto, where there were 32 students (among which I had regular 7&8, as well as special ed. 7&8 kids). It was VERY challanging to teach such class, and I remember once when I was being observed during a computer lab. class I was teaching, some ADHD kids just went out of control. I had to interrupt the lesson, address them and the problmes they were creating for the rest of the class specifically, by making sure they would understand and do what was needed to be done at that point (i.e. go along the class and follow my explainations). That was a very delicate situation, for they were 32 different students in a computer lab. and if I had not dealt with the situation at the right time, way as I did (i.e. right away, by being proactive), I would have had further bad consequences that would have surely influenced in the worng direction my classroom management in the future.
Good classroom management skills are essential for effective teaching, so I’m glad that this is a strength of yours. What do you attribute this to? The good examples of other teachers? A undergrad or grad course on this subject? Or is it mainly due to your natural ability and talent?