what are the characteristics of a good teacher?

Malaysia
July 21, 2008 10:22pm CST
hi teachers..i'm a new teacher..i would like to know what characteristics a good teacher must have..can you share some..i hope i can be a good teacher..
1 person likes this
8 responses
@KUSHANK55 (2437)
• India
22 Jul 08
a good teacher has to be a good learner first. the good teacher must know the basic level of all the students and should take care of their individualities too. a good teacher should prepare his topic for today very well and deliver it to the class after preparing them for the topic. like the farmer prepares his field before sowing the seed. a good teacher should always care for not only the studies but keep the balance in his class by involving the students in developing their all round personalities!! and many more to come!!....
• Malaysia
22 Jul 08
i got 4 points here..tell me if i missed something:1)know the overall students level 2)know individual level 3)do preparation 4)developing their personalities..thanks KUSHANK55..
1 person likes this
@shav9292 (928)
• India
22 Jul 08
you are a teacher.....cool. im no teacher..im a student.i think a good teacher must interact with the students as much as possible to know what they are lacking.its is impossible for a teacher to get on the good side of all your students so you have to set your values and stick with it. (if you ever happen to be my teacher.i would advice you to give me no homework whatsoever....lol)
1 person likes this
• Malaysia
22 Jul 08
no homework??wow..if i happen to be your teacher,i'll make sure that i'll give you extra work everyday..lol..it's good to hear from the students' side..thanks..
• Malaysia
22 Jul 08
thanks..
@shav9292 (928)
• India
22 Jul 08
best of luck for your profession.:)
1 person likes this
@nrjena (32)
• India
30 Jul 08
First of all, you should be patient with ur students. When you are explaining some difficult chapter to students, at that time, you should explain in such a way thinking yourself as one among the students. Do not lose patience if anyone asks u to explain repeatedly. Be honest with your profession. Because, there is nothing great job other than teaching in this world.
@polgeram (83)
• United States
26 Jul 08
Congratulations! I hope you have a long and rewarding career! You've already heard the college "book" answers to what makes a good teacher, but you also need to hear the "truth" from someone who's been in the field. I just finished my fifth year of teaching...and am getting out. I love my students, I make my lessons integrated and interesting, and students generally love my classes (social studies and spanish). The parents, however, are another story. My teaching methods are not "conventional", meaning that my classroom is set up with students sitting in pods (groups), lots of group work and problem solving, students teaching students, and few regurgitate the facts tests (I like my students to apply their learning, not just state names, dates, places, etc.) To be a good teacher, it's not enough that you respond well to your students and develop quality units that lead to advanced learning; you also have to be good with the parents. Parents want their kids to get a good education: the same education they got. When you ask a parent what good teaching looks like, they'll describe the way they were educated (knowingly, or not). They'll talk about kids sitting in straight rows, quite classrooms, teacher talking at the front and writing on the chalkboard, kids busy at their desks doing homework or studying, fact-based tests, reading textbooks and answering questions. Parents are uncomfortable with subjective grading, group projects, and activities that require synthesis and application of ideas to create something new. However, latest research into "good" education and how to develop students' "21st century skill set" that businesses are looking for requires interaction between students and teacher, with the teacher acting more like a facilitator. Students need to problem solve and learn how to work together (neither being a smooth road, which leads to many parent contacts!) You also need to learn how to grade well. This may sound stupid, but the fact is that you can make any test or project so that all students pass or all students fail. The trick is to get it right in the upper middle so that there is an even distribution between the top 2/3 of marks. You will need to answer to parents and/or the administration if you give out too many top marks...or ANY lowest marks. Teachers are expected to be miracle workers, able to get ALL students passing marks. (Kind of like the No Child Left Behind farce of George Bush in the US.) I know this all sounds negative, but you need to know it going in. It'll save you a lot of heartache. I went into teaching thinking that I was going to change the world and help my students attain a quality education. But it's all political. If you can work well within education's politics, you'll do well.
• United States
21 Mar 09
Hello, today is my first day on this site. I currently work at a Title I school and I have a B.S. in Business Admiistration. I have been considering a M B A or Master's degree in Business Education. However, lately I enjoy the kids but the administration sucks. What you said is the truth and more. Our school system is a mess and many parents take their kids to local private schools. thanks for the info.
@nayiying (83)
12 Aug 08
the responsibilities of a teacher are to spread excellent personality and plentiful knowledge to the students, and educate the students to become valyable people in the future. a good teacher try to own more positive words that are positeve and become a better person with better personality. a good teacher loves students. a good teacher cares and is always ready for his or her students. a good teacher is always fair and respects students.
@zhuhuifen46 (3483)
• China
21 Mar 09
A good teacher is rich in knowledge from continuous education, to be excellent in his field, and open minded in learning as a whole. More important is that he must be a person of integrity. He has to love his work, and present in front of the students with positive outlook. He should be fair, and friendly with the students. And he should be good in speech, with good logic and humor.
@nrjena (32)
• India
30 Jul 08
A teacher must be a type of person who can present a good example of humanity before his/her students. A teacher must be a person, who keeps a balance between the talking i.e., giving advice and turning these advice into practice in his/her own life also. In this way he/ she sets an example before others. He must be a learned man that means he/she should keep himself/herself updated with new learnings/ findings of the new world.
• Malaysia
29 Jul 08
Hey there, I personally think that a good teacher must have a good relationship with the students and also fellow teachers. I have a friend like you too that has just become a teacher and he has a good relationship with his students and teachers especially his fellow freshie graduates. It helps that some of the fellow freshies are pretty too so it gives him option to choose a wife. I hope he can choose wisely.