What qualities make a great teacher?

Reader comments from Minnesota Public Radio.

My favorite: Never-ending understanding. Non-judgmental. Accepting. Encouraging. Inspiring. Dedicated. Driven. Knowledgeable not only in subject matter but life lessons as well. Has desire to continue learning. Levelheaded. Ability to see from any angle needed. Patient.

Continue reading...
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/todays-question/archive/2010/04/in-your-view-what-qualities-make-a-great-teacher.shtml

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SPEAKING OF GREAT TEACHERS:
TAFFEL TALKS KINDERGARTEN BLOG
Here is the blog of Arleen Taffel, an inspirational teacher for 40 years who recently passed away.
http://mtbethel.blogs.com/taffel/
A kindergarten teacher for 40 years, including 30 memorable years at Mt. Bethel Elementary School in Marietta, Georgia, Arleen taught up until nearly her last day and will always be remembered for her love of teaching. She will forever serve as an enduring inspiration for the countless children, parents and teachers whose lives she touched.

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Here's some...
GOOD NEWS -- UPDATE ON MARSH FORK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Thanks to a generous $2.5 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation, the long march for a new elementary school for children in the besieged Coal River Valley hamlet of Sundial, West Virginia, has come to an end: A new school will now be built in a different location. ...
Along with the Annenberg funds and a gift from the Coal River Mountain Watch, the school also received commitments of $2.6 million from the West Virginia School Building Authority, and $1.5 million from the Raleigh County Board of Education and Massey Energy, which is responsible for the whole mess of coal dust and the dangerous coal slurry impoundment.

Continue reading...
Goodbye Massey Coal Dust: Welcome to the Ed Wiley Elementary School!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/goodbye-massey-coal-dust_b_559167.html

See my posting

Thursday, March 25, 2010
Move Elementary School out of Harm's Way

This is a follow up to my Saturday, January 23, 2010 post

I follow the Marsh Fork/Massey coal issue very closely -- in April, there will be a school board vote on needed funds to move this school.
In West Virginia, the Marsh Fork elementary school sits 400 yards downstream from a dam holding back billions of gallons of water/coal sludge. The West Virginia government has refused to build a new elementary school in a safer location. The community, afraid for its children's lives, began the organization Pennies of Promise to raise the funds themselves. In April 2010, the school board will vote on funding for a new school. Are you willing to lend your voice to support these kids?

My students have joined the Facebook page below, and I am reaching out to other schools in an effort to elevate media awareness and the importance of a new school.

The "Pennies of Promise" Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2256931294