By no means am I saying that I am better than anyone else...I admit that I do fall back on bad habits sometimes, but at least I try....

What's in: Patience... understanding that students have lives off campus, and they may not understand it the
first time you say it.
What's out: Telling the student that they are stupid and/or incompetent.

What's in: Giving them the time in lab to complete the report within the three hour period.
What's out: Telling them to get out so that you can go and do more research.

What's in: Using visuals and physical demos in lecture to get the physics topics across language
barriers.
What's out: Telling them to read the book and "just get it".

What's in: Getting the students involved and active by asking them to participate in lecture demonstrations.
What's out: Lecturing to the chalkboard.

What's in: Exams that challenge the student to think. Clearly worded conceptual questions.
Grading for partial credit.
What's out: scan-tron exams.

What's in: Using language that is easy to understand in lecture, especially for ESL students.
What's out: Using a lot of physics jargon buzzwords that the students have never encountered.

What's in: Giving a lot of examples, ranging from simple to complex, to give a feel of how to use
the concepts and equations.
What's out: Giving the equation, and then giving an extremely complicated example that takes too
long to solve.

What's in: Giving examples that pertain to everyday life.
What's out: Giving examples that pertain only to the instructor's life.

What's in: Being knowledgeable in the topics you lecture about, and being skilled at conveying the
topics to the students.
What's out: Carrying on arrogantly about how much more you know compared to them, and yet not being able to properly convey the simplest of topics to them using a language that they can understand.

What's in: Giving the students a sense of confidence in understanding physics.
What's out: Reinforcing the myth that "physics is only for geniuses."

What's in: Exciting the students with cool demos and discussions.
What's out: Telling the students to shut up because they are destroying your concentration to
lecture.

What's in: Physics is fun for all.
What is out: Physics is fun because you enjoy torturing your students with boredom, monotony,
and vagueness.

What's in: Admitting that you are not a perfect teacher, and that you still do some of the "out"
stuff listed above, AND be willing to do something about it.
What's out: Thinking you already know how to teach effectively, getting in a cycle of not revising
lecture notes semester after semester, and blaming the students for being incompetent and
ignorant.

I know that this manifesto may get me into trouble with certain faculty members I know, but I don't care.  I know what is the right thing to do, and I've seen enough bad habits in teaching to last a lifetime.  Physics does not have to be taught with obscurity--it requires patience and good communication skills that go beyond language.   I'm learning this and many other new things as I evolve into a more effective instructor.  I feel proud that I receive compliments and praise from the students I have enlightened along the way.  I get frustrated when they don't get it, but I don't get discouraged--I usually find another path to get the topics across to the students.  

What I see in the students are the faces of enlightenment.  That in itself is what makes teaching physics worthwhile.