Life, until you’re two or three years of age, is fairly easy and nonchalant until you are to enter a totally alien zone without the constant pampering and comfort of mother’s care and father’s love. In this totally different world, you get to meet creatures of your shape and size who are equally miserable as you are. This unknown and mysterious place comes to be ruled and regulated by a giant fairy princess. She tries to take the best care of you. It is in her presence that your constant need of your parents around starts to decline. It is only in your years of being familiarized with her that you realise this fairy princess is the one who makes your life easy and carves you as a social creature excelling in various domains. They are our teachers, the guiding forces. Here are 10 qualities every excellent teacher must have to simplify yet broaden the life of her students.
10. Confidence
Teaching can be a very challenging and testing experience. Dealing with a packed class of 30-40 students for six hours a day is simply no joke. Teachers who have been into the profession and excel at what they do, realize that how important it is to be self-confident for a smooth sail. Possessing this attribute becomes extremely crucial for teaching so that every time s/he walks in a classroom s/he is sure about what they have to impart to the students and are able to do that effectively. A strong passion for the job that they are doing and for the subjects that are to be taught becomes the key point to their confidence.
9. Caregiver
Those little ones with their wobbly feet never want to leave behind their parents and be forced to go to school. The teary and sappy ones would do anything to go back home. The teachers of nursery schools must, therefore, be the best of caretakers for these kids need a lot of care and vigilance that would make them stay at the hostile-seeming place. Patience becomes a virtue that the teachers of the nursery wing unfailingly abide by.
8. Sunshine teacher
Kids love and would always love those teachers who come with a bright smile on their face every morning. They would hover around her, desperate to narrate their stories and be her favorite. This ensures a happy, friendly environment for them to grow. They would in this way look forward to impressing the teacher and gain her appreciation and that would be their brownie point; be it a paper bird or an ice-cream stick house, they would put in their best of efforts.
7. Disciplinarian
While developing a carefree environment for the kids at primary school is imperative, what cannot be ignored is instilling a sense of formal mannerisms in them. In order to do so, some teachers turn themselves into daunting ones too as and when required. S/he expresses resentment and disapproval when the student does something bad and inappropriate. Thus they would understand what should not be done and what triggers a course of condemnation.
6. Toe the line
An efficient teacher understands that repeated corporal punishments never serves their purpose in the long run. The child would simply become a recluse or a rebel ready to defy commands and instructions of the teacher every now and then. As an alternative, there are ways that the child could be made to realize of his or her folly. Maintaining a monthly star chart posted on the classroom wall then becomes one of the ways.
5. Academician
This is an exceptionally difficult task for the teachers, be it teaching students of any age. Coming to class the sole purpose must not be only to make sure that the syllabus is complete but also that whatever is being taught is being equally attended by every student. The old method of chalk and blackboard has been replaced by the smart-boards long back. This has been put to great use. Powerpoint presentations are being shown to the students to develop a fair understanding of the concepts. Some experiment a bit and opt for different testing methods after a topic has been taught, be it via a quiz or a project. Any method away from the cliched method of pen and paper tests is welcomed.
4. Attentive
Not every student has the same caliber to excel in studies. For some students forming an understanding of a concept might not be a great issue but for others that might be becoming one hell of a topic. The teachers with keen eyes pay close attention to the progress chart of a student and act accordingly if the results are not satisfactory. They single out the student but not publicly in front of the entire class as that would call for embarrassment and insult to her/him.
3. Approachable
Young adults and adolescents in high schools tend to face many issues that affect their life and academics to a large scale. Very often what students lack is a confidante and it is here that teachers step in and fill that place, talking to the student privately and trying to dig in her/his issues to gain an insight into what has been affecting their academics. Only when the reason for the divergence is discovered, will the student actually be able to come back on track once again. Yes, teachers need to be counselors too.
2. Impartial
While it is natural for a teacher to pick out a favorite amongst a class of 30-40, the compassionate ones never express that publicly. There is always one student in class who seems would become the most sincere and law-abiding citizen of the nation and it becomes impossible for many teachers to not develop a soft corner for that silent and kind child. Teachers should give it a thought that expressing favoritism for a particular student might result in her/him being shunned away or excluded by his friends. Children can be mean and especially to those who are picked as the teacher’s pet. Politics prevails not only in workplace amidst the adults, but also amongst children.
1. Play-maker
Teaching needs to be a holistic task. The responsibility of creating a sense of togetherness and oneness amidst every student of the class lies on her/his shoulders. Taking note of the fact that every student has a different background, upbringing, and persona, s/he involves all of them into activities that would undo the various boundaries which demarcate them otherwise. Doing so would ensure all of them coming together and developing a small community.
Given the large plethora of duties and responsibilities, teachers certainly are muti-taskers. The excellent ones just never let it become obvious to anyone that they are actually multi-tasking. If you are a teacher then remember there is always a scope to achieve excellence, not in what you are doing but in what you are providing.