A Good Teacher

What makes a good teacher? 

A debatable topic for sure this one. 

Mostly because a good teacher depends on individuals. What I mean by that is what I define as a good teacher may be different than what you define as a good teacher. The reason for this is because I have different experiences than you, you have different kinds of relationships than I do, and we both have different lives that have shaped our own different perspectives. These experiences and perspectives are brought to the table and used to determine what we see as good and bad teachers. 

There is nothing wrong with this. Experiences will shape our view. Experiences are prescribed into our lenses and strongly influence how we see people and furthermore, how these people make us feel, how we receive their actions, and how much we will allow them to influence us. 

A classroom of 20 students physically has one teacher but really, has 20 teachers. That teacher will be received differently in 20 different ways and be understated in 20 different ways.

We could all have the same teacher treat us the same with the same approach, same consequences,  and deliver the same lessons. Yet,  we turn out to be completely different students from one another. One of us may be hurt and the other confused. 

One of us may learn better visually and the other may learn in an auditory way. 

One lesson taught by giving a lecture next to a blank wall may be received well by you. I would walk away confused likely and perhaps without fully grasping the concept. 

Another lesson  taught with objects and graphs with vivid pictures would be received better by me. You may walk away confused this time whereas I would feel full because I am a visual learner. 

A teacher understands the different ways individuals learn best. A good teacher will use all of these methods to increase the likelihood that a sea of individual people with different learning methods all learned some thing and grasped the concept. 

We also define teachers as good or bad based on our emotional experiences. For example, if a student was verbally abused at one point in his or her life, then a teacher who yells or raises their voice as they teach a lesson will come across completely different to that student. The student may feel fear and be closed off to anything that is being taught. 

A good teacher takes into account all the possibilities of emotional experiences and finds an appropriate tone that will successfully communicate the lesson to all the students with all of their individual emotional experiences. 

A teacher cannot cater to every individual need. However, I do believe good teachers can at least understand these differences and find a medium that will be most successful in a diverse atmosphere. 

A good teacher does not strike fear in students. A good teacher is calm, gentle, and yet clear and concise. 

If you look at a classroom today and compare it with a classroom even a few years ago, then you would find major differences. A few  years ago, a teacher was allowed to smack the hand of a student who misbehaved in the classroom. This was received well in that generation. Respect was demanded according to the position an individual had. A student was taught to respect the teacher and the lesson whether they understood and agreed or not. Questions were usually looked down upon if they lead to a contrary view then what was being taught. Disagreement was viewed as disrespect and there were consequences and many unanswered questions. What was left were students who knew the concepts but not the reasons behind them. 

The students of today have a very different understanding of what successful teaching looks like. Its not the smack of a ruler, a raised voice, or consequences that fearfully motivated a student to accept the lesson without question. 

A good teacher today is one that is clear but also gentle. One that spends time with the students and not just with other teachers. One that would sit down and have conversations about the lessons with the students. One that would hear the students out and hear their points of view. 

A good teacher is loyal to the students and not the position. A good teacher has the students best interest in mind and not their own.  A good teacher spends most of their time listening to the students and doing their best to answer any questions. A good teacher understands that in order for a student to truly grasp the concept, they have to teach in a way that doesn't force the students to accept but that allows the students to reach the point of acceptance on their own. Force develops robots that know the basics but doest not understand the values beneath them. 

Students that are left with the points but cannot defend them.

 Lessons that are forced using fear and emotion usually stay there with the temporary emotion. 

A good teacher knows how to encourage students to not only understand the concept but to fully accept it because all doubts were able to be answered. Teachers who refuse questions lead students to believe that there is a lack of truth in the concept being taught. 

Students today view disrespect and disagreement as two different things. Students today view good teachers as one that is down-to-earth, approachable, and equally respectful of what the students have to say.