Thanx for this wonderful assignment .. I really was interested while reading it
If you want to be a good teacher, you must not put obstacles in your way by being fixed to traditional ways of thinking and be always open and willing to listen to new ideas and adapt new techniques or strategies; to accept criticism is part of this ability to change.
You're right .. I think that it is a very important point for the good teacher because the Ss are in need for some new strategies in learning and the good teacher is the one who finds and creates many ways of teaching in oreder to let his Ss excited and enthusiastic
I have also some qualities of the good teacher I wanna mention them here :
- The Qualities of Successful Teachers :
1.
Sense of Humor
2. Preparedness
3. Self-confidence
4. Ability to build rapport with the students
5. Fairness
6. Attentiveness
7. Time – management skill
8. Willingness to admit mistakes
9. Forgiving
10. Creativity
11. Flexibility
12. Being Adaptable
13. Respect
14. High Expectation
15. CompassionI'll explain some of them since you mentioned many qualities of them :
2-
Preparedness : It is easy for students to tell if a teacher is prepared for class. Even young children know when a teacher is organized and ready for the day’s lessons. According to some researches, nothing frustrates a student more than to come to class and be assaulted by a teacher who has no idea what he or she is doing. Competence and knowledge of the content area being taught is something that the students have always mentioned about their favorite teachers and is strongly supported by the current literature. Students pointed out that in classrooms where teachers were well prepared, behavior problems were less prevalent. The well-prepared teacher is more likely to be able to take time during lessons to notice and attend to behavioral matters, and is less likely to miss the beginnings of potentially disruptive activity. If, on the other hand, teachers have not invested sufficient time in planning and preparation, they tend to be so focused on what they are doing that they miss the early signs of misbehavior. This ultimately results in frequent disruption, waste of valuable instructional time, and student frustration.
3- Self-confidence:The good teacher has to be knowledgeable; he should know more than the book itself. The excellent teacher must possess a deep knowledge by having a passion. He should learn new things not only the course he teaches. Teachers would be life long learners. A good teacher should have the necessary command over the subject matter he teaches. This way, he can be comfortable while explaining things. Besides, he will be equipped with answers of any possible questions that might crop up during the lecture sessions. The teacher has to make his students trust him. When a student asks the teacher any question, he should answer him but not each time because if the teacher always gives the answer easily then the student may forget the answer soon { easy come easy go }. He has to let them work by themselves in order to be more independent. However, if the teacher doesn’t know the specific answer of the student’s question, he shouldn’t anticipate the answer as he thinks and he shouldn’t also show him that he doesn’t know; he may ask the student to check it at home and they can discuss the day after.
4- Ability to build rapport with the students:The teachers should convey a personal touch with their students such as call students by name, keep the eye-contact between the teacher and the students, be friendly with them, smile often, ask about their feeling and opinions, take personal interest in students and find out as much as possible about them and visit the students’ world (sit with them in the cafeteria; attend sporting events, plays, and other events outside normal school hours). Teachers who bring their lives and stories into the classroom build trust with their students. Teachers who tell stories of events in their own lives which relate to subject matter currently being taught, captivate student interest and promote bonding with the students. Additionally, teachers who have gotten close to their students have done so by finding out as much about their students as possible. Teachers who show interest in their students have interested students.
5- Fairness: The most effective teachers handle students and grading fairly. They allow all students equal opportunities and privileges, provide clear requirements for the class, recognize that “fair” doesn’t necessarily mean treating everyone the same but means giving every student an opportunity to succeed, understand that not all students learn in the same way and at the same rate. Nobody will abide rules that unfair, but the egalitarian teacher is not necessarily unbiased and just all of the time, but the teacher strives to be as fair as humanly possible in situations that are often impossible. As humans, we possess an ingrained sense of
fair play. Whenever we are dealt with by someone in a manner that violates what we think constitutes fairness in the situation, we react negatively. Any semblance of favoritism, or lack of fairness, can leave scars that last a lifetime.
6- Attentiveness:The teacher should be attentive to everything happens in the class; he should know what is going on especially if the class is the traditional one like most of our schools in Syria he should realize what is happening in the back. The teacher should never ignore any students and give the chance to each one to participate. The most important question to be raised here is “Which is better to give equal attention to the low and high level students or not equal attention?”
- Actually you have to make equal attention but in reality you have not. (mixibility classes) You have to mix between the distinguished and the bad students. You may depend on the good students to let the weak ones get the benefit, i.e. you may let the good ones repeat the idea more than once so in this case you make the weak ones understand it clearly without letting them know the purpose of this thing. If you pay more attention to the good students, the weak ones might feel neglected and the opposite is also true. So, the most suitable way is to make your attention somehow equal but try to give the weak ones more by motivating them to work in pairs or groups.
7- Time – management skillA good teacher must have good time management skills and always value the importance of time. In fact, wise utilization of time is the hallmark of a good teacher. Do what you have to do, but do it properly.
8- Willingness to admit mistakes Something that we all appreciate in others is their willingness to admit mistakes, and it is also long remembered by students. Like everybody else, teachers make mistakes. Everybody in the world has ever done mistakes. Students and teachers are human so mistakes can occur. Teacher should change opinion that teachers are always correct. The proud teachers can recognize their mistakes and apologize for student for misbehavior. Unfortunately, some teachers think that their authority in the classroom can be undermined by these mistakes and they try to let them go unnoticed or cover over them quickly. Students quite obviously have a different opinion. They are fully aware of the times when teachers make mistakes, especially when they somehow suffer from them. Teachers who recognize their mistakes and apologize for them when they affect the students provide an excellent model to give students, and a great way to be remembered as a favorite teacher.
10- CreativityWith the onslaught of standardized testing and curriculum this might be getting harder, but it is still very important. Regardless of discipline, creativity is paramount. Sure, you can be a good teacher by taking prepackaged material and efficiently transmitting it, but you can’t be a great one. To be a great teacher, you have to be ready to develop custom, creative lesson plans and projects. You have to have an arsenal of techniques. You need to be a problem-solver. Many of our students remembered unusual things that their teachers did in their teaching and the creative ways that they decorated the classroom or motivated the students. For example, one teacher was remembered for an old bathtub painted green and fill with pillows and books, designated the “Reading Tub”. Another teacher was remembered for an igloo that she had in the back of her room. Constructed out of plastic bottles glued together in the shape of an igloo, it provided an enclosure into which children who earned the privilege could go and work quietly on puzzles and word-finds. Other teachers had large trunks in their elementary room full of dress-up clothes, offering a fun activity for rainy days. Some teachers were remembered specifically for their unique ways of motivating their class. One teacher had challenged the class to reach a particular academic goal. If they did, she promised to kiss a pig. They reached the goal and she kissed the pig!
11- Flexibility Students have complex lives. If everything is set in stone, you’ll eventually crack. When an A student fails a test, you have to be ready to be flexible. Likewise, you should make yourself available to students for help as much as possible and publicize that fact. If students don’t know you’re available or have office hours, they won’t come and will just struggle through key concepts. Realize that learning is not static and you can’t be either.
13- Respect Teachers universally wish for their students to respect them. Favorite teachers were remembered for keeping grades on papers confidential, for speaking to students privately after misbehavior or when the teacher needed some clarification, in contrast to public rebuke. Favorite teachers were remembered for showing sensitivity for feelings and for consistently avoiding situations that would unnecessarily embarrass students. Such behavior is obviously appreciated by students, and according to some students , repaid with respect and love for the teacher.
- To seek more quality in the academic life it is useful to know the most important characteristics of a professor's performance that makes the students see him or her as a successful teacher and compel the students to recommend that teacher to other students. To know the most important characteristics of the teacher which allows the student to judge him as good or bad, and that are related to whether or not the student recommends this professor can be useful in the search for academic excellence. When demonstrated by classroom teachers, our students remembered school in a positive way. These traits have proven to increase student achievement. Whether one is new to the teaching profession or a seasoned professional, working to include these traits into everyday teaching routines or fine-tuning those already in use, will ensure that students have a positive school experience as well as a successful one.