This study examined reflective thinking as it is related to instructional and personality characteristics of effective teachers. During semistructured interviews, 42 first-year elementary school teachers identified characteristics of effective teachers and preservice activities that, for them, were significantly related to professional development. The predominantly white, female participants represented three very different undergraduate academic institutions and a variety of public school teaching assignments. The study involved participant interviews during the final month of the first year of teaching. Interviews focused on issues of effective teaching, personal efficacy, and professional development. Followup questionnaires clarified the issues. Results from one-way classification Chi-square tests indicated that there were several personality characteristics significantly related to effective teaching. Specifically, for these novice teachers, the effective practitioner was a caring, committed, highly creative, proficient reflective thinker with a strong internal locus of control. These characteristics were not isolated traits but instead were related. Participants identified six preservice activities that may maximize growth in technical expertise, teaching artistry, and reflective thinking: clinical field experiences during methods and foundations courses, microteaching lessons, video analyses of student teaching performances, weekly seminars for preservice teachers during full-time student teaching, reflective journals, and professor-modeled reflective thinking. (Contains 28 references.) (Author/SM)