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The Characteristics of an Effective Reading Teacher and Principles that Support Children's Literacy Development.

The question of what is an effective teacher is probably as old as teaching itself. In fact, teaching must be the oldest profession, for, in a sacred book called "The Pearl of Great Price", it states how Adam and Eve taught their children "to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled. (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 6:6). The problem is, there are bad teachers, there are good teachers, and there are excellent teachers. There may also be effective teachers among the ranks of any of these three categories. To be "effective", a reading teacher has to be able to perform his or her task correctly and efficiently. Mistakes are kept to a minimum, and improvement is constantly sought. Let us examine, then, what might be considered an effective reading teacher.

First of all, an effective reading teacher understands the importance of language in the child's development. This teacher does not underestimate the child's need to communicate both orally and in writing. He or she will also be alert to the child's needs in order to plan an effective or relevant course of instruction. In other words, the teacher will first assess those skills that the child already possesses, and will provide activities that will encourage the development of those that he or she lacks.
An effective reading teacher will expose the learner to all things printed. Doors, walls, tables, desks, windows, everything will be labeled so as to stimulate the child to identify words with written symbols. I have a "testimony" of sorts in this regard. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with my son, I started reading out loud. My husband would tease me saying that the pregnancy had turned me crazy, but I continued doing it. As soon as he was born, I bought books and read to him every day for hours (I was a "stay-at-home" mom until he turned five and started kindergarten). I also bought big alphabet letters and taped them to the walls of his room. He had magnetic letters to play with on the refrigerator, and his name was clearly written in big colorful letters on a bedroom wall, and in all his books. One time, when he was about three years old, I told him that I was going to teach him how to write his name. He said that he already knew. I "dared" him to show me, and, lo and behold, he took a piece of crayon and wrote his name perfectly, backwards (he is left-handed).

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