Opinion what makes a great teacher

What jumps out at me most, though, is that awareness of self is as important in the framework as the awareness of learner or the awareness of teaching process. Generally in teacher preparation and professional development, the focus is on teaching practices and how we can understand our students as learners.

But we are rarely called to look at our own identities. Perhaps the element of personality that most contributes to excellent teaching—as essential as our pedagogy, knowledge of our students, and of course, knowledge and passion for our subjects—really boils down to our ability to develop a strong sense of ourselves in our teaching role.

All Topics. About Us. Group Subscriptions. Recruitment Advertising. Events and Webinars. Leaders to Learn From. Current Issue. Special Reports. EdWeek Research Center. EdWeek Top School Jobs. EdWeek Market Brief. Menu Search. Sign In Subscribe. Reset Search. Teaching Profession Opinion. By Ariel Sacks — September 25, 4 min read. Share article Remove Save to favorites Save to favorites. Ariel Sacks. Ariel Sacks arielsacks is a middle school language arts teacher and curriculum coach.

As a teacher, having the ability to constructively express verbal, writing, visual, and body language cues together with the capacity to convert ideas into student understandable structures will deliver knowledge with superior results. This way, the students will know precisely what is expected of them , including understanding due dates for specific homework tasks or assignments so that students can deliver the work successfully.

If a student does not fully grasp or understand the expectations or directions of a particular task or assignment, it is crucial for the teacher to communicate them to the best of his or her abilities. Being a good teacher means having your students listen to you and making sure that you listen and give your students the attention they need by answering all of their questions.

The value of listening lies behind, allowing you to better understand your students. The ability to understand your students is one of the keys to being a good teacher and helps you to understand what works and what does not work in terms of teaching for specific students and your student group as a whole. Each student is different and expresses themselves in their own unique way. By asking active questions and carefully listening to what students have to say, a teacher can further improve their communication between themselves and their students.

Through strong listening skills, teachers are able to create a stronger, healthier, and higher quality learning environment. Having a friendly attitude is one of the most essential qualities of a good teacher. Expressing a friendly attitude towards your students makes you more approachable.

It is more likely to motivate students to want to learn. By being perceived as more approachable, students will feel more comfortable to ask questions. This will, in turn, enhance student-teacher communication and create a more positive learning environment.

The best teachers tend to be open, friendly, welcoming, and most importantly, secure in approaching. Something important that comes with having a friendly attitude as a teacher is trust that can potentially be created within the classroom.

When a student views a teacher as friendly, the student is more likely to open up to the teacher, and hence, he or she will be more likely to trust the teacher. A sense of trust will further enhance communication within the learning environment and increase productivity. Students need to feel comfortable in their learning space to perform to the best of their abilities.

By having a friendly attitude, you encourage this sense of comfort and trust that can really take your teaching to the very next level.

Most importantly, having a friendly attitude can really contribute to making you a memorable teacher , and there is nothing more charming than being able to be that teacher. Patience is a virtue , and especially in the world of teaching. Being a teacher and handling multiple children at one time is not an easy task and requires a great deal of patience. Different students will display different levels of aptitude when it comes to learning.

It is crucial to consider, as this will help students not stay behind and will further the success of the teaching environment. Another factor to note on patience is that a patient teacher is likely to be more adaptable to different teaching environments.

Different individual students and age groups will express various difficulties when it comes to interacting, communicating, and teaching. By being patient, a teacher will be more willing to understand each of these individual students and overall age groups. Good teaching comes with experience; however, having patience will allow the teacher to learn and better understand what specific tactics work and do not work when it comes to engaging students within the learning process.

Having a strong work ethic is an essential quality in our list of qualities of a good teacher. A good teacher never quits, and especially not on his or her students. Having a strong ethic will always reflect on your students and the delivery of their work.

As a role model, having a strong work ethic will help your students develop a strong work ethic and are an especially crucial component in our list of qualities of a good teacher. With a good work ethic comes professionalism, responsibility, and preparation. Unfortunately, not all students will have the same attention span or the same level of discipline concerning their attitudes and behaviors.

Teachers have to be patient and remember that this is an inevitable part of teaching. By having a strong work ethic, teachers can more effectively become aware of what works and do not work in their specific teaching environment, pertaining to the students. If something does not seem to be working, teachers must try their best to find a solution that works for the objective of teaching itself.

Among the recommendations were the following key points:. Implementing these recommendations, however, is a slow process, dependent upon legislation as well as increased funding from both the federal and state governments, and a will to implement changes at the school district level.

Parents can work together to keep the superintendent, their school board members and their state legislators focused on the goal of having a high-quality teacher in every classroom. Give Kids Good Schools This Internet-based campaign, a project of the Public Education Network, makes it easy for parents and community members to lobby government officials to take action to improve the quality of teachers.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards This organization provides information on voluntary advanced national certification for teachers. Learn more about the program and how you can encourage teachers in your school to obtain National Board Certification. McEwan, Elaine K. Cooperman, Saul, How Schools Really Work , Catfeet Press, Written by a former superintendent, this helpful book provides easy-to-follow steps for evaluating and improving schools.

Bennett, William J. Intrator, Sam M. Full of passionate stories, the essays reveal why teachers teach and the challenges they face. Next: Jockeying for teachers. Choosing the wrong college can be bad for mental health. How students can benefit from randomly assigned college roommates. A parent's guide to saving for college at every stage.

Please enter a valid email address. Thank you for signing up! Server Issue: Please try again later. Sorry for the inconvenience. Parenting » Education trends , Find a school skills » What makes a great teacher? Study after study shows the single most important factor determining the quality of the education a child receives is the quality of his teacher.

Here are some characteristics of great teachers Great teachers set high expectations for all students. Great teachers have clear, written-out objectives.