Haley Dufour

Background

About Haley Dufour

The most important attributes I associate with being an effective teacher are patience, empathy, flexibility, and approachability. Patience is important in a classroom setting because students are not always going to listen when you are giving instruction and in order not to overreact to this frustration you must have the patience to deal with inevitable disruptions. When acting as an Assistant Director for a local musical I worked largely with the children to teach them choreography. A lot of the kids were very energetic and easily distracted, in order to get things done I could not fight for their attention and sometimes just had to wait for them to understand that my silence indicated my need for their silence so that we could proceed with our rehearsals. To approach teaching with empathy would mean to be sensitive to experiences your students have been and are going through, within and outside of the classroom. It is important to approach each student as an individual with their own challenges that may inhibit their learning/listening/communication abilities. When I was a Girl Guide leader, a young girl that a lot of our Guides knew unfortunately passed away. In order to provide the consolation the girls needed in this time I had to be able to empathize with their grief but still be a strong pillar they could rely on when expressing their hurt. An effective teacher has to be able to be flexible around things that come up at the last minute or that do not go as planned. The effective teacher will be able to think on their feet to adjust their existing plans when needed and the flexibility to be able to analyze the big picture of what else will be effected by these quick but needed changes. When assistant directing a musical production, my director was unable to continue leading the production; leaving me with the task of taking over the organization of our rehearsals and the directing of the scenes when I was previously not prepared for this level of responsibility. I was able to step into her role after postponing a few rehearsals, learning and adapting as the show progressed. To have a welcoming classroom and be a welcoming person a teacher has to be approachable. Students will always have things they struggle with, both in and out of the classroom and they will struggle more to reach their full potential when they are unable to ask for help. A parent of a student of mine describes me as having a trustworthy face, being easy to talk to, and is very quick to connect with people on a personal level.