A great teacher works hard to prepare, to think freshly about the material she'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, roommates, family when they get home too. Once in a while, something comes along that you want to carry with you, make a poster of and post it in your office; something you need to read every now and then to remind you of your destination, something to aspire and inspire.
Today, your post was that "something". Thank you and thank you FacultyFocus. When the learning goes well, a great teacher ensures the students own this success. When it doesn't, the 'buck' lands firmly in the teacher's lap. When learning doesn't go well, it is not necessarily the teacher's fault. I think the teacher has the responsibility to understand why it didn't go as well as hoped, but students are accountable for their own learning and often do not accept that responsibility.
I agree with this completely. As adults students must take charge of their own learning. As instructors we do our best to provide learning experiences, but if the student doesn't want to take charge and learn, they're not going to. Those who don't see themselves being all nine or at least working diligently toward excellence in , shouldn't be teaching. Having said that, perfection in all areas and all circumstances isn't attainable either.
So, I strive to learn and grow daily in these nine and the additional items recommended by suehellman. Some days are better than others 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 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?
A great teacher also encourages both genders. There is only on male pronoun used in the article! I see two. Also, some of the points are written in gender-neutral language. Please don't be so silly. I find it interesting that substituting "she" for the usual, acceptable "he" pronoun is somehow seen as a glarring omission……I doubt if keeping with the typical default pronoun "he" would have even been recognized, much less commented upon.
Think about it…. A great teacher is always a best guide, Friend and philosopher. This is a very good article and the points gives a teacher a right direction. What a great article! I'll be sharing this with my Adult Education students this semester…. Fantastic article!! Thank you Maria! If I could be so bold as to add one more to the list?
I believe great teachers teach problem solving, not just how to find the "answer. I think 5 A great teacher has his own love of learning is really important. Teachers needs to continually renew themselves and their knowledge. The wisdom of today may not be the wisdom of tomorrow. In fact, the wisdom of today may be proved wrong tomorrow.
Great post. Some of the points can be bunched into one. Pingback: Education Annotary. This is a wonderful reminder of what teachers who want to be great strive to do. I also like what Pat Boling added to this. Thank you, Maria and Pat! Reading the posts after the article was as informative and helped me grow as much as the article.
Kudos to you all. I would like to add that as elementary as this seems, creating a learning environment online that helps students feel "safe. Shawn Feaster Johnson, Ed. One can have all the skills mentioned here and still not move a class — and that is the biggest challenge of all — coming to class everyday willing to try something new, never giving up although the class just never ignites.
I've only had one class like this in my career, fortunately. The comment that the students need to want to learn is a wise observation, and a true one; a teacher is half the equation, and can only do so much, even the great ones. Not all students can be inspired, unfortunately. But we can't stop trying! A great teacher doesn't allow the students who struggle more often to fall through the cracks. The best teachers are definitely the ones that treat each and every student with respect and the ones that will have complete gratitude for you when you accomplish something, and be disappointed when you let yourself slack.
If you see your teacher's disinterest in a topic you tend to allow yourself to drift away, nothing is more interesting to a student than seeing passion about a topic. Great teaching to me was the incorporation of different teaching styles when one wasn't working and understanding that extra time outside of class is necessary for every student to get where they need to be.
There was students in my classes who thoroughly didn't want to learn and if they even came to class, actively tried to disrupt it. The teacher that got through to those students, even just once, were the most skilled as they understood that everyone strives for something in life and could be personable enough to any student that the student would reveal that dream.
I am most grateful of the teachers in my life that embodied any of those aspects and any of the nine above because without them I may not be where I am today.
A great teacher inspires and heroic in communication. An effective teacher must have high expectations. While unreasonable or unfair expectations don't position your students for success, expectations that are too low don't do them any favors either.
To ensure that your students are doing their best individually, you must establish a clear, firm set of expectations for what success should look like for each of them. Your students should, at the very least, be able to meet your expectations but they cannot do that if they don't know what you're looking for.
As always when it comes to teaching, being explicit will go a long way. Tell your students what you want to see in their independent work, what good time management looks like, how they can set goals for themselves, how you expect them to participate in various settings, etc. Your students should be comfortable feeling challenged. Develop instruction that requires them to stretch to meet goals without overwhelming them and differentiate your teaching so that each learner is capable of meeting their own targets.
Many teacher evaluation programs such as the CCT Rubric for effective teaching refer to high academic expectations as follows:. Always remember that, while standards can be helpful for establishing an appropriate level of baseline difficulty, they should not be used to set your expectations. In order to create a positive learning environment , your students should know what to expect each day. Students thrive in conditions of consistency and routine where they feel grounded yet safe to explore.
They should be using their brainpower to learn, not adjust to disorienting changes. Routines make your schedule smoother and student life easier. The best teachers are steady and predictable, treating students equally in the same situations and behaving like the same person each day. Don't confuse stability with being boring—teachers that are consistent and fair are free to use their time more flexibly because they have created a stable classroom culture.
Here are a few ways that the CCT Rubric for effective teaching refers to fair and consistent teachers:. Student engagement and motivation are critical to effective teaching. Successful teachers take a pulse of the class often in order to gauge how interested their students are in the subject matter and whether something needs to be done to increase their participation, interest, or both.
This also allows teachers to assess whether their students are progressing toward the learning goals or need more support. Teachers can make whatever they are teaching more interesting to their students by using varied participation structures and activity types. By having students learn through a wide range of activities as a class, in groups or partnerships, or independently, teachers can keep students on their toes and the classroom energy high.
Specific qualities of engaging teachers from the CCT Rubric are:. One of the tenets of teaching should be that a classroom should run smoothly amidst constant change. Here are 10 things successful educators do. The most effective teachers expect their students to succeed, believe in them, and motivate them to keep trying until they reach their goal. As a result, they set the bar high and create an environment where students can push themselves beyond their comfort zone but also have a safety net to catch them if they fail.
If you ask a student who their favorite teacher is, they are more than likely to tell you about the teacher that makes them laugh. Humor helps create that lasting impression. The best teachers are masters in their subject area. They know their craft and never stop learning. They are curious, confident, and do not need a textbook to teach their students. They stay abreast of their subject and transfer their love of knowledge to their students.
Productive teachers think creatively and try to make classroom experiences exciting for students. They identify ways to leap outside of the educational norms and create experiences that are unexpected, unique, and ultimately more memorable. Successful teachers know that risk taking is a part of being successful. Children learn by observing, and when they see you try new things and watch how you handle success and failure , they too will know how to handle similar situations.
Successful teachers are consistent in all that they do. This applies to enforcing class rules, a consistent grading system, and the expectations for all your students.
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