Great Teachers

Chapter 6: What makes a teacher effective?
By: Lucy Lucero

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." William Arthur Ward

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being." Johann W. Von Goehte

What makes a great teacher, is the question every new teacher should ask. Every new teacher would like to know how they can be great and make a difference. There are so many ways teachers are effective and that is by being a reflective decision maker, knowing the subject matter, using theoretical knowledge and good classroom management skills. I believe those are important skill to have, but I'm going to talk about things that are left out like caring and personality. Those are qualities a teacher should have. New teachers' are motivated and ready to teach. Teacher's that have been teaching for a while enjoying teaching students who have passion and want to learn. I believe a great teacher is one who shows they care and enjoy doing what they love and that is to teach. A great teacher always reflects on what they could do better or things they could do different to meet the needs of the students.



A teacher's personality is also important. Personality plays a big role in teaching. Students feed off the energy of the teacher. If the teacher has fun and loves teaching, the students have fun and want to learn. If the teacher is there just to be there, then the students will have the same attitude and won't care. Students need to know the teacher cares. Students could be something amazing and accomplish great things when they know someone cares. A great teacher cares and inspires. They want to see the students make something of themselves. Later in life, the student knows which teacher made a difference in their lives and finds a way to let that teacher know. Even the little kids know a great teacher when they see one and that is how a teacher knows they were successful in teaching.