A great teacher
Learn a new language!
We all remember the time we spent at school and I am convinced that we all have a favorite teacher in our hearts. A long time ago, as a young, eager student, we might all have said that a great teacher is someone who provides entertainment in the classroom and does very little homework. After many years of experience as a primary school teacher and hundreds of hours of language teaching for adults, I can say that my perspective has changed. And my current position gives me the opportunity to convey what I have learned with current and future teachers about what it means to be a great teacher.
Teaching is hard work and some teachers never grow to be anything better than mediocre. They do the bare minimum required and very little more. The great teachers, however, work tirelessly to create a challenging, nurturing environment for their students. Great teaching seems to have less to do with our knowledge and skills than with our attitude toward our students, our subject, and our work. Although this list is certainly not all-inclusive, I have narrowed down the many characteristics of a great teacher to those I have found to be the most essential, regardless of the age of the learner:
1. A great teacher respects students. In a great teacher’s classroom, each person’s ideas and opinions are valued. Students feel safe to express their feelings and learn to respect and listen to others. This teacher creates a welcoming learning environment for all students.
2. A great teacher creates a sense of community and belonging in the classroom. The mutual respect in this teacher’s classroom provides a supportive, collaborative environment. In this small community, there are rules to follow and jobs to be done and each student is aware that he or she is an important, integral part of the group. A great teacher lets students know that they can depend not only on her, but also on the entire class. This teacher shows that teamwork is very important and faster than doing everything alone. Plus when the students have learned the concept of teamwork, there will most likely be no bullying.
3. A great teacher is warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. This person is approachable, not only to students, but to everyone on campus. This is the teacher to whom students know they can go with any problems or concerns or even to share a funny story. He tries to be a person who you can trust, he knows every single student as an individual. Great teachers possess good listening skills and take time out of their way-too-busy schedules for anyone who needs them. If this teacher is having a bad day, no one ever knows—the teacher leaves personal baggage outside the school doors.
4. A great teacher sets high expectations for all students. This teacher realizes that the expectations she has for her students greatly affect their achievement; she knows that students generally give to teachers as much or as little as is expected of them. In classes with these kind of teachers, there are no students that are no students that are either under challenged or overwhelmed.
5. A great teacher has his own love of learning and inspires students with his passion for education and for the course material. He constantly renews himself as a professional on his quest to provide students with the highest quality of education possible. This teacher has no fear of learning new teaching strategies or incorporating new technologies into lessons, and always seems to be the one who is willing to share what he’s learned with colleagues.
6. A great teacher is a skilled leader. Different from administrative leaders, effective teachers focus on shared decision-making and teamwork, as well as on community building. This great teacher conveys this sense of leadership to students by providing opportunities for each of them to assume leadership roles. And if the teacher is the leader, everybody respects and obeys him, so there will not be any students that don't listen to him and do whatever they like.
7. A great teacher can “shift-gears” and is flexible when a lesson isn’t working. This teacher assesses his teaching throughout the lessons and finds new ways to present material to make sure that every student understands the key concepts. Also when the class sees very different perspectives of the same thing, you will find it more interesting.
8. A great teacher collaborates with colleagues on an ongoing basis. Rather than thinking of herself as weak because she asks for suggestions or help, this teacher views collaboration as a way to learn from a fellow professional. A great teacher uses constructive criticism and advice as an opportunity to grow as an educator. He always does the best, he can.
9. A great teacher maintains professionalism in all areas—from personal appearance to organizational skills and preparedness for each day. Her communication skills are exemplary, whether she is speaking with an administrator, one of her students or a colleague. The respect that the great teacher receives because of her professional manner is obvious to those around her.
While teaching is a gift that comes quite naturally for some, others have to work overtime to achieve great teacher status. Yet the pay-off is enormous — for both you and your students. Imagine students thinking of you when they remember that great teacher they had!
This strikes me as a list of necessary but not sufficient conditions for being a great teacher. What makes a teacher great is reaching to present difficult content, ideas, debates, issues in a lucid, compelling way, time after time. A great teacher works hard to prepare, to think freshly about the material he's teaching, and to find current examples that will grab her students' interest. A great teacher makes the classroom magic happen, regularly. She or he elicits her students' best efforts and engages their minds, so that they leave class still alive with ideas and comments, and they talk about what went on in class with their friends, room-mates, family when they get home too.
A teacher is human and one of the best role modelling strategies we can impart on our students is to learn from our mistakes. If you, as a great teacher, are wrong - 'fess up and fix it! We expect nothing less from our students. I think this is a subset of high expectations and accountability, yes? And nobody is perfect, so we can always get better by learning from our mistakes.
