Christopher Robinson

AGSC 325

Professional Portfolio

Effective Teacher Paper

            There are many qualities that make an effective teacher.  This paper will discuss the five most important characteristics that teachers should strive for.  These five are clarity, variability, enthusiasm, task-oriented/business-like behavior, and student opportunity to learn the material.  There are other characteristics for effective teaching, and no teacher will have every one, but every teacher should be aware of these five and do there best to utilize them. 

            The first characteristic of an effective teacher is clarity.  This is simply defined as being clear.  Teachers should do their best to make sure every student, regardless of learning style, has the best chance of learning the material.  The way teachers explain, organize, and answer questions lends to the clarity of the lesson.  Fully explaining every concept and using proper examples allows the teacher to be certain that students understand everything.  Lessons must be organized and flow properly so that students do not misunderstand several key points.  If the teacher cannot effectively answer questions, then the confusion the students have on the subject will never be cleared up.  All of these contribute to student ability to learn.  Education without clarity would be like trying to find your way out of a forest blindfolded. 

            The second characteristic is variability.  The ability to vary your teaching methods keeps away monotony, and allows inclusion of students with different learning styles.  Instead of always lecturing the addition of games, skits, or hands on learning can keep things interesting for both the teacher and student.  The variability can make students want to come and see what will be done that day in class.  However, if used incorrectly, it can lead to disinterest when having to attend just a “regular” class.  So I feel that teachers must try to avoid the “why aren’t we doing anything fun today” lessons.  Variability can go both ways.  Classes can’t always be a party, but shouldn’t always be a lecture either.

            The third characteristic is enthusiasm.  I’m sure that after years of teaching it’s hard to keep the enthusiasm flowing, but for the sake of the students and our own sanity teachers should do their best.  If the teacher shows absolutely no emotion for a subject, then how are the students supposed to be happy to come to class and learn about it.  Some teachers can drone on for hours and not care if anyone is awake much less learning.  I’m sure everyone has had at least one of those teachers that can take the most interesting subject and put themselves to sleep explaining it.  While enthusiasm is important, it is also important that it is genuine.  Students know when you are really excited about a subject or if you are just faking it.  Nobody wants to listen to a zombie robot lecture all day about anything, but nobody likes bad actors either. 

            The fourth characteristic is task-oriented/business-like behavior.  Teaching is a profession, and therefore, teachers must be professionals.  It is the teacher’s job to make sure that the students learn.  We have to make sure we stay in charge of the class, and the students stay on task.  With a properly laid out class structure, the students know where the boundaries are and what they are allowed to do.  By the students being aware of this structure they know what is expected of them, what happens when they meet the expectations, and what happens when they do not.  I feel that structure is important, but too much can be inhibitive.  I do not believe that students should hesitate to participate in class due to a fear of disrupting the structure of the class.  Class should not be a carnival or a prison, but a comfortable learning environment in which the students are at ease with their teacher. 

            The fifth characteristic is a student opportunity to learn material.  While all of the above characteristics are involved, this topic has a lot to do with individual learning style.  Teachers must make sure that lessons reach students with every learning style.  Lessons can be formulated to reach any learning style whether visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.  In order to make sure the students are learning effectively, proper grade keeping structures must be in place.  With the documentation of grades it is easier to go back and see which concepts certain students may not fully understand.  Using this information can help you to further vary the teaching style to reach those children. 

            These five characteristics certainly make it more clear what it was about teachers that made them effective or not.  If you were lucky enough to have a few good teachers during your education I’m sure they had at least a few of these going for them.  I only had a couple of teachers that I enjoyed, but they really made learning worth it.  By being clear, using variety and enthusiasm, and having a properly structured class environment, these teachers were able to get me and the other students involved in the learning process.  I hope that I will be able to do the same, and I am sure it will be something that I will have to always work on.