Teachers at Nixa High School play a pivotal role in ensuring a good classroom, school, and good students. The best way to learn what makes a teacher a good one is to look up to experienced teachers, who give insight into what they feel is essential, how they deal with misbehavior, and the ways that they teach.

   Stephanie Pycior teaches Teaching Academy, where students learn how to become teachers. Pycior said there is something essential to teaching. 

   “I feel relationships are [essential] to building a strong, respectful [atmosphere] in the classroom,” Pycior said. “We’re not there to be best friends with them, but the safe person they can come to when they’re needing concerns or guidance and you just build that relationship with them.”

   Tania Motto, a math teacher, said there are essentials to becoming a good teacher.

   “A… teacher should be patient, knowledgeable, they are gonna be a lot happier if they have a glass-half-full attitude,” Motto said. “They need to be willing to sometimes bring work home but also be willing to leave work on your desk because you need to have a line that defines ‘me time’ and ‘school time.’”

   Briana Ashby, English teacher, said she has a strategy to starting the year with a good attitude.

   “From day one, I try to start building relationships with students whether that’s through an attempt to be humorous, or making sure that I ask questions about them right from the get-go,” Ashby said. “They’re gonna hear about me throughout this year but I want to hear from them as well.”

   Something that every teacher, new or experienced, must decide is how they deal with behavior. Pycior said there is a way to set up a good front line.

    “Setting rules and procedures in place is first line of defense in making sure you have a good classroom management plan,” Mrs. Pycior said, “[Be] clear with those rules and expectations and continuously reminding them of those rules and expectations. …I think you can still have good structure in place without being extremely strict.”

   Motto said she attempts to change the direction the students are heading by giving firm directions and warnings.

   “I try to redirect, if possible, like you would a toddler if they’re heading towards the kitchen, you kinda just – instead of getting them in trouble for heading toward the kitchen you kinda redirect them to something else,” Mrs. Motto said. “If people are starting to misbehave, I just try to say ‘Hey, that’s not how we’re gonna behave.’”

  Another thing to consider when teaching is how you should teach your students- choosing between lectures, group projects, individual research, or other methods.

   “I am a big fan of cooperative learning so I mix up my students to where they work together and everyone is involved- [it] is not a group thing but everyone is taking part in it,” Pycior said.

   Meanwhile, Motto tends to use other methods of teaching.

   “[Some] do like working together, and then there is always some who just rather work by themselves, but, maybe, two or three times a year there is something that I’ll have them do in groups, but I don’t do it every day.”

   Ultimately, it depends on the students, and how they learn. 

   “I think the biggest thing is that when you do get a feel for your students you know better how they learn and some of them it’s gonna be lectures and notes, for others, it’s going to be working on a group project, or even individually and doing research.”