Amy Dunaway-Haney

AMY DUNAWAY-HANEY

Amy Dunaway-Haney teaches Spanish at Kettering-Fairmont High School in Kettering Ohio.

• 2010 Top Five Finalist for the Great American Teacher Award
• 2010 Technology Award for www.sparkenthusiasm.com website from the Ohio Foreign Language Association
• 2010 National Board Certification in World Languages (W.L.O.E.)
• 2006 Disney Teacher of the Year Honoree
• 2005 Ohio Foreign Language Outstanding Teacher
• 2005 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year
• 2002 Freida J. Riley National Teaching Award
• 2002 MDA National Personal Achievement Award
• Co-Author of several books and publications designed to help teach Spanish

As you are mentoring student teachers, what would you say is the #1 thing a teacher could do to improve their performance? What is the key ingredient needed to be a very effective teacher?

Amy: I think there are so many things that a teacher needs to be an effective teacher. Number one is a very strong knowledge of their content area. That is huge! Second, I think Jamie Escalante said it best: you have to have the “ganas”. The “ganas” is the desire, the want! You have to want it. I don’t know if that can be taught. For me, I don’t know how NOT to be that way. I feel like I was born with the desire to be a teacher. I feel that next to parenting, teaching is the second most important job. A teacher has to have the desire to educate and inspire students. I would hope that a new teacher who is struggling would take a good hard look and say, “Is this really what I want to do?” I say that because they are going to have to do a lot of work to become a master teacher. That is the best place to start in finding out if this is truly the profession for you. If it is, I think everything else will come in time if you have the will, the desire, and the passion for your students’ learning.

     If a teacher is struggling, he/she needs to find someone he/she admires and figure out what those teachers are doing to be successful. Those master teachers are going to be more than willing to share materials, ideas, and become the new teacher’s biggest cheerleader.

     Perseverance is another key ingredient. Effective teachers never stop trying and they never give up. What they are doing is too important! Teachers cannot just say, “Well, I told them to do their homework but they just didn’t do it.” Effective teachers always try again and never give up on themselves or their students.

That’s the purpose of this book. We are learning from the great teachers who have been recognized as some of the best in our profession so that we can all improve our teaching and ultimately reach more students. One thing you have in common is the passion and desire to reach your students.

Amy: It really is critical to have that attitude. If you are not a strong person, it is easy to get discouraged. Teachers deal with difficult parents, administrators, and sometimes students. This profession can be daunting. If a teacher is struggling, I could see why he/she may want to give up.