When you think back to your school days, you probably remember your favorite teacher and the teacher you disliked the most. Think about the differences among those two people. Why was the best teacher your favorite? You will probably list the characteristics you liked about the teacher. Even though there will always be teachers students do not like, every teacher should have these characteristics to be effective role models in their students’ lives:
Patience Is Success In Teaching
Every teacher needs to have outstanding patience with himself and his students. If the teacher is a good role model, he will refrain from ridicule and yelling. Students feel embarrassed when a teacher ridicules them for getting the wrong answer. Many times a student, who has been ridiculed, will not answer questions in the future. The teacher, instead, should prompt the student into giving the correct answer. Patience is a characteristic every person, not only teachers, should contain.
Communication Is An Essential Characteristic
A teacher is required to communicate with other teachers, administrators, parents, and students. Excellent communication skills will help a teacher be more successful in the classroom. It is the educators responsibility to take a concept out of a textbook, and pass the information on to the students in a way they understand. A master teacher understands the importance of different questioning and rewording techniques to deepen the students’ knowledge of a topic.
A Passion For Teaching And Children
Every teacher should put the student’s learning above everything else. It is apparent when a teacher is a teacher for summers and holiday vacation only. A true passion of teaching can be seen by parents and students. Students will become excited about school if the teacher is equally excited about teaching. A passion for teaching can not be faked; it comes naturally to the genuine teacher.
A Teacher Should Always Be A Life-Long Learner
A role model teacher will continue to perfect his skills in teaching after getting a teaching position. There should never be a time when a teacher stops learning himself. Continuing to learn about modern educational practices will make him a better teacher. A life-long learner of education takes the practices he learns in his own education, and implements the practices into his classroom.
Communication, patience, passion, and learning differentiate a regular teacher from an excellent teacher. The teachers that students enjoy going to their classes (and not skipping them) have these characteristics. Every educator, at any grade level, should have these four characteristics to be the best teacher possible.
