David C. Soltesz
West Virginia Teacher of the Year
John Marshall High School, Glen Dale, WV
Grades 9-12, Cisco Networking, Computer Programming, A+ Hardware/OS Certification

My teaching philosophy
I believe that teaching can be seen as a job, a profession, or a vocation. The ones in the classroom who see it as a job are the ones who often tell their students, “We’re going to have a free day today” and their primary reason for going into education was to have the summer off. The teachers who see it as a profession are the ones who try to do their best and fulfill all the expectations the administrators of the school require of them. They may even take on the occasional extra duty and generally perform their duties in a competent manner. However, they can sometimes become complacent and although they may imitate successful programs in the classroom, they will generally not go out of their way to innovate in the classroom.

The educators that see teaching as a vocation, however, are the ones that go above and beyond what is expected of them and continually raise their goals for themselves and their students. They are the ones who could not see themselves doing anything else and being as happy as they are in the classroom interacting with the students. They are the ones who spend much time on weekends, in summer, and nights preparing and improving lessons, creating new things for the classroom, and taking on new challenges to improve the quality of education of their students.

My philosophy in action
My own personal teaching style has evolved from when I first began teaching as I have attended graduate classes, continuing education lectures, and observed other teachers in action. From all of these different sources, I have found that the best way for me to teach is to ask the right questions. After I give a small lecture about the technical aspects of a concept or the basic facts about a procedure, I begin by asking questions that test for basic comprehension of the information. I then continue to probe with higher order questions that challenge all students and give assignments that test all levels of learning.

My greatest teaching accomplishment
While the recognition of my peers is nice (John Marshall Co-Teacher of the Year three of my five years full-time teaching) and the trip to Japan (Toyota International Teacher Program) was amazing, the greatest thing I do is to help students succeed where they thought they could not. My greatest teaching accomplishments are the “A-ha” expressions my students get after struggling with and grasping a complex concept. By presenting the concept in a new or alternate way, I can almost see the “light bulbs” suddenly illuminate above their heads.

The most critical issue facing educators today
Some major public education issues being discussed today include bilingual education (whether to teach students with English as a second language by transitional bilingual education or by immersion), technology in education (although low income students have access to the Internet at school, their home connectivity rates still lag behind), and the very visible No Child Left Behind (with its high accountability requirements, adequate yearly process standards, high cost of implementation, and school choice consequences, some educators have dubbed it “No School Left Standing”).

However, I feel the most important issue facing public education today is that of character education. How do we teach morals and values in a public school setting? This issue is the most important not because of the controversy surrounding it or legislation requiring it, but because of what will happen if we fail in the task of educating our children to be moral and responsible citizens.

Ways to resolve this issue
There are several ways to teach character education. These range from the passive displaying of character education posters or motivational quotes to the more interactive recitation of qualities and asking why they are valuable. It can be interwoven throughout all we do during the school day or a time reserved for character education. It can be as simple as verbally reinforcing good behavior or a school wide program to “catch them” being good. Regardless of the approach we take, it is imperative that the students themselves become active seekers of moral knowledge and virtue and their parents take an active part in their moral upbringing (or at the very least not contradict what the school is teaching).

One thought to inspire other teachers to succeed
At the end of the day, you should ask yourself, "Did I do the absolute best I could with my students today?" That is the only accountability test that matters.

One lesson every student should learn
Create tomorrow's successes today.

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