Becoming An Effective Educator Analysis

I currently hold the position of an instructor working for the Department of Defense – I am an educator! To be an effective educator, an instructor must possess the qualities which can be summed up into the three Air Force core values that have been embedded within us as young airman while serving or affiliated with the United States Air Force (USAF): Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence In All We Do (Little Blue Book, 2015).
Integrity First
I possess the quality of integrity – I am a professional. I ensure the integrity of the instruction is never compromised. My students understand that I am by the book. According to the US Air Force’s Little Blue Book, integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. My students
Back in 2005, I called up the boss at the technical training schoolhouse to see about applying for instructor duty so that I could promote up. I did not care about the students sitting in the seats – I only cared about promotion. Then God showed up. He quickly showed me that my ways were not in line with His ways and that my ways were contrary to the US Air Force’s way. I had to quickly learn Service Before Self, which according to The Little Blue Book, means putting the needs of the USAF before my own personal desires. I quickly understood that I was the leader of a classroom full of students who desperately needed my guidance, not arrogance, to teach them the necessary skills, knowledge and attitudes to be successful in their career fields. I needed to lead my students as a professional, excelling at every level by demonstrating the intended behavior. In her article titled “Teacher vs Educator”, Sackstein stated, “Teaching isn’t just a job to an educator, it’s a calling. It’s passion and commitment and a desire to amplify the voices and dreams of the many children whose lives touch them as much as the educator touches theirs.” In 2008, I made a commitment to possess the quality of patience by accepting my students as individuals and meeting their basic needs – to have the quality of sensitivity by noticing changes in their attitudes and behaviors – to possess the desire to teach and see my students excel
Sure it might seem rudimentary to simply teach the content, however, it is much more rewarding to us instructors and more understanding to our students when we can courageously stand in front of a class and physically demonstrate what we are required to teach. An educator has the fortitude to do what is right when no one is looking – the selflessness to put the needs of his/her students before his/her own – the quality to perform at levels beyond the expected. A truly effective educator will never say, “do as I say, not as I do” – an effective educator would say, “watch me as I show you how.” I thoroughly enjoy calling myself out by telling my students to closely observe me demonstrate how to use the exact techniques as I teach them. A student from my most recent class stated: “Mr. Eddins was a phenomenal instructor. Personally I learned more from observing him teach than I did from the testable material” (EOC Evaluation,