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The most successful
teachers share some common characteristics.
Here are the top six keys to being
a successful teacher. Every teacher
can benefit from focusing on these
important qualities. Success in
teaching, as in most areas of life,
depends almost entirely on your
attitude and your approach.
1. Sense of
Humor
A sense of humor can help you become
a successful teacher. Your sense
of humor can relieve tense classroom
situations before they become disruptions.
A sense of humor will also make
class more enjoyable for your students
and possibly make students look
forward to attending and paying
attention. Most importantly, a sense
of humor will allow you to see the
joy in life and make you a happier
person as you progress through this
sometimes stressful career.
2.
A Positive Attitutude
A positive attitude is a great asset
in life. You will be thrown many
curve balls in life and especially
in the teaching profession. A positive
attitude will help you cope with
these in the best way. For example,
you may find out the first day of
school that you are teaching Algebra
2 instead of Algebra 1. This would
not be an ideal situation, but a
teacher with the right attitude
would try to focus on getting through
the first day without negatively
impacting the students.
3.
High Expectations
An effective teacher must have high
expectations. You should strive
to raise the bar for your students.
If you expect less effort you will
receive less effort. You should
work on an attitude that says that
you know students can achieve to
your level of expectations, thereby
giving them a sense of confidence
too. This is not to say that you
should create unrealistic expectations.
However, your expectations will
be one of the key factors in helping
students learn and achieve.
4.
Consistency
In order to create a positive
learning environment your students
should know what to expect from
you each day. You need to be consistent.
This will create a safe learning
environment for the students and
they will be more likely to succeed.
It is amazing that students can
adapt to teachers throughout the
day that range from strict to
easy. However, they will dislike
an environment in which the rules
are constantly changing.
5.
Fairness
Many people confuse fairness and
consistency. A consistent teacher
is the same person from day to
day. A fair teacher treats students
equally in the same situation.
For example, students complain
of unfairness when teachers treat
one gender or group of students
differently. It would be terribly
unfair to go easier on the football
players in a class than on the
cheerleaders. Students pick up
on this so quickly, so be careful
of being labelled unfair.
6.
Flexibility
One of the tenets of teaching
should be that everything is in
a constant state of change. Interruptions
and disruptions are the norm and
very few days are 'typical'. Therefore,
a flexible attitude is important
not only for your stress level
but also for your students who
expect you to be in charge and
take control of any situation.
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