Three Requirements for Dissolving Teaching Blocks

In my experience, recognizing what holds us back from becoming the very best teacher we can be and moving the class closer to competence require three things: 1) converting 'deficit perspective' to feeling of sufficiency, 2) cultivating the habit of reflective practice in teaching and 3) focusing the lens of 'reflective practice' to examining our own judgments and habitual reactions. No matter what we practice in the classroom, whether it is defining national standards, following our own understanding of what makes good teaching or navigating the educational spectrum anywhere in-between, how we practice teaching in the classroom is after all a reflection of who we are. I call "blocks" those concepts which keep us from growing further. As a teacher the best thing we can do to be a role model for our students is to make a commitment to never stop learning.