GREAT TEACHER

QUALITIES OF A GREAT TEACHER

1. A good teacher INSTILLS CONFIDENCE

Low student confidence is one of the most persistent obstacles to the success of any teacher. The breakdown of students worrying trend are:

• Many students do not believe that their teachers actually believe in them 

• Many students do not believe that their parents actually believe in them 

• Many students do not believe that any adult actually believes in them 

• Many students, therefore, do not believe in themselves 

• Students who do not believe in themselves tend to have more behavioral and academic problems

2. A good teacher MANAGES THE CLASSROOM EFFECTIVELY

Classroom management encompasses all the strategies a teacher deploys to organize and arrange students, learning materials, space, and use of classroom time to maximize the efficiency of teaching and learning.

This helps students enjoy an organized, structured environment with an emphasis on a positive educational atmosphere that is conducive to learning.

3. A good teacher IS PREPARED

Teacher’s preparation includes:

• Knowledge — The teacher understands major concepts, assumptions, debates, processes of      inquiry, and ways of knowing that are central to the discipline(s) s/he      teaches.
• Dispositions — The teacher realizes that subject matter knowledge is not a fixed body of facts but is complex and ever evolving. S/he seeks to keep abreast of new ideas and understandings in the field
• Performances — The teacher effectively uses multiple representations and explanations of disciplinary concepts that capture key ideas and link them to students’ prior understandings

4. A good teacher SETS HIGH EXPECTATIONS

Effective teachers don’t set limits on their students. They have high standards, they consistently challenge students to do their best, and they are caring professionals who teach students to believe in themselves.

As an educator, you know you should always expect the best of your students and encourage them to learn to their utmost potential. But you also know doing so on a daily basis can be incredibly challenging. 

5. A good teacher PRACTICES SELF-REFLECTION

Without reflection, you run the continual risk of making poor decisions, using bad judgment, or unquestioningly believing that students can always accurately interpret your actions as intended. Without the tendency to assess your own abilities, you may continue to plan and teach on the basis of unexamined assumptions — and remain unaware of your biggest strengths and weaknesses.

6. A good teacher uses TEACHING STRATEGIES

Some of the more prominent and useful teaching strategies are outlined below:

• Active learning strategies put students at the center of the learning process, enriching the classroom experience and boosting engagement. Use them to help students talk more openly, think more creatively and — ultimately — feel more engaged in the process of learning. 

• Experiential learning activities build knowledge and skills through direct experience, deploying a student-centered approach that empowers participants to take learning into their own hands and apply it in an engaging context.

• Project-based learning uses an open-ended approach in which students work alone or collectively to produce an engaging, intricate curriculum-related questions or challenges. Encourage students to apply skills and knowledge they’ve developed in your classes, and allow students to take their own approaches to develop an answer and deliver a product. 

• Inquiry-based learning is learning and teaching method that prioritizes student questions, ideas and analyses. It is subdivided into four categories, all of which promote the importance of students’ role in the development of thought-provoking questions and ideas.