Effective Teacher

        What comes to your mind when you hear the phrase “An Effective Teacher??”  For me this is simply.  My definition of an effective teacher is a teacher that has taught their students knowledge, gain their students respect in a professional manner, and able to step out of their comfort zone.  There are several characteristics of an effective teacher.  Today I will talk about those characteristics that a teacher must obtain.

            The first characteristic that a teacher should obtain is clarity.  Clarity is defined as clearness of thought or style.  Teachers that well explain their lectures and are able to answer the students questions would be classified as having clarity.  Every teacher should maintain clarity, but unfortunately there are teachers, that do not explain the subject matter, and their students suffer.  Some teachers rush thru their lectures, and they are not explaining properly. This leads to students having questions, and not fully understanding the material.  When a teacher is explaining every detail, then his or her students are able to understand.

            The next major characteristic that a teacher should have is variability.  A teacher needs to change their way of presenting material often and teach in small portions.  By teaching in small portions you are able to go more in depth, which allows students to fully understand the material.  However you do not have to go in detail on every subject matter.  If you are always teaching in small portions the students will begin to be uninterested and not pay attention.  When you are only stretching the material, when it is difficult you are able to keep the students focus.

            The third characteristic that a teacher should posses is enthusiasm.  I currently have a professor that is constantly enthusiastic.  From the minute he walks through the door until we leave, my professor is excited about the topic for the day.  I think every teacher should be excited about teaching.  If they’re not, then why are they teaching?  However this could be a downfall.  Eventually students do get tired of the professor constantly being enthusiastic, but at 8:00 a.m. you need your teacher to be excited.

            The next characteristic is task-oriented/business-like behavior.  A teacher who is task-oriented is someone who uses different teaching methods.  The teacher should never use the same method over and over.  Every student learns differently.  It is up to the teacher to find out how their students learn, and teach in that environment.  If some students prefer to learn by working on worksheets, then the teacher should assign in class worksheets.  That way for the students, who do not learn by worksheets, they are in class and can ask for help.  One of the downsides is that you will not be able to teach the technique that every student learns by.  Even though you cannot teach your lessons in every learn style, there success in learning is still the most important.

            The last characteristic that a teacher should apply is student opportunity to learn material.  If it’s the teachers first year and they do not know their students yet, the best way to learn is by conducting a learn style test.  A test they could give their students is the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire.  This is how I found out what my learning style was.  It would be a great way for the teacher to get information on how they should teach their students.  This is something I plan on doing for my students.  As I said before, you will not be able to teach in every learn style at the same time, but mix it up.  To find out how you’re teaching, and if the students are learning, have your students complete a feedback worksheet.  Let your students tell you where your strengths and weaknesses are.  If not students have other teachers at school grade you.  Invite them to your class on an off period, and let them rank you.

            As you have read every teacher can be an effective teacher.  As long as their students are learning and they’re maintaining the five characteristics, which are clarity, variability, enthusiasm, task-oriented/business like behavior, and student opportunity to learn material, then they will be a good teacher.  The main point in teaching is that the students are learning, and become successful.  As long as your students do not fail, then you do not fail as a teacher.