How To Be A Great Teacher

Introduction

This book has been written for every teacher who strives to be a great teacher. I have spent the past 25 years teaching and making this my goal. My desire is to offer you my opinions and experiences that have helped me along this path. I have taught many grade levels from five year olds to adults and have found that there are many consistent elements of teaching that help in becoming a great teacher. Many of these are learned through experience alone and not through college coursework. Therefore, this book has been written as a general guidebook and not as a research textbook. Parts of this book may offer helpful teaching ideas or processes that you may use and have success with. I have worked with English-as-a-second-language learners for many years, and I offer some of my procedures that I found successful. I hope you will find the information in this book thought-provoking, interesting, and informative. I hope the book will help you as you evolve into a great teacher.

What is a great teacher and why are they worth consideration?

These are valid questions that beg to be answered by parents, students, administrators, and by teachers who desire to improve their skills.

Great teachers are honest and moral. They serve as uplifting and positive role models and place the well being and safety of their students as paramount. I do not feel that much research has been devoted to determine what a great teacher is and how to recognize one. However, if you were to informally survey parents and students, most of them could tell you how they think a great teacher acts and behaves. Most will be able to tell you if they have ever worked with a great teacher—either as a student, parent, or fellow teacher.

America has many types of teacher rewards to recognize exceptional teachers, but it has been my experience that many great teachers do not seek the limelight and personal recognition. Great teachers work quietly and intently, knowing that the seeds they sow may not be reaped for 10-15 years—but they do it anyway. They seek the rewards of the future—the future college students, successful men and women, good fathers and mothers.

Great teachers already realize that parents have entrusted them with the most sanctified of gifts—their children. These teachers strive to be better than they were the day before. They have high expectations, are fair, and do not let students slide when they have potential. They believe in every child’s potential greatness, and do not allow excuses to replace faith and hope in the futures of children.

Great teachers are made not born. Some people seem to be more patient, devoted, and willing to serve for fewer rewards, but I believe every teacher who wants to be great can be.

I believe we need great teachers more than ever in our country. There are many teachers who are still out there every day fighting the good fight to help kids learn against many obstacles. Some of the obstacles originate in the school system itself, with belligerent or uncooperative parents, with a media that focuses on the wrongs and none of the rights, and with a culture that equates worth as a professional and person with the amount of money you make. All this filters down to students who often bring this disrespect and loss of values to the classroom.

Our country has confused results of test scores given on a single day often in a few hours with the worth and educational value and growth of an entire year. All professionals should be held accountable for their teaching, but students do not grow in predefined quarters or semesters. Indeed, they should grow, but they grow from where they start, and this is usually different for each child. Let us make sure that as parents, teachers, and administrators that we look at the entire picture of growth for that child or group of children. If a teacher is not doing his/her job, that administrator should know that long before any testing occurs and should