A Good Teacher
Article by VISK November 18, 2020
I would certainly like to
believe that I am a good teacher but the readings this week have thrown light
on some aspects of my teaching style and environment which could use a bit of
help. I must say I was a little perturbed by this realisation and set out to
implement some immediate changes.
Good teachers must
demonstrate or embody certain critical characteristics that will enable them
not only to teach but encourage the students’ motivation to learn in an active
manner (Cini, 2017; Great Schools Partnership, 2014). The crucial role of the
teacher was validated when Yoonsun Choe (n.d.) stated ‘’It’s the teacher who
makes or breaks her classroom’’. I will outline below some major characteristics
of a good teacher as outlined in the readings.
Content Knowledge:
A good teacher is knowledgeable about the subject matter (Bailey, 2017) as well
as of the students’ learning styles (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016). This helps the
teacher to get a good feel for the students’ motivation base (Sieberer-Nagler,
2016) which in turn helps with the lesson preparation, allowing the teacher to
incorporate aspects of students’ areas of interest into the lesson.
Classroom Environment:
Good teachers are enthusiastic and approach their work with a positive and
upbeat outlook (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016). Ashley Peterson-DeLuca, Community Manager of Pearson Learning company
reports that students identified love of teaching or passion for the work and
commitment to student success as a characteristic of effective teachers (2016).
Such teachers create a positive classroom atmosphere where students are
challenged and encouraged to see their success as a result of their efforts
(Bailey, 2017), and come prepared to handle a variety of possibilities (Sieberer-Nagler,
2016). They set clear rules and expectations for their students, give clear
directions and have good classroom management skills (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016).
These teachers also care about the children and work to build good
relationships with students and their families and “put kids ahead of learning
objectives” (Choe, n.d.)
Quality of Teaching:
Taking into consideration that there are various types and learning styles, (visual,
auditory, kinesthetic and reflective) good teachers incorporate activities in
the classroom that allow every learner to have the opportunity to learn via
their dominant style. They provide multiple learning platforms that incorporate
cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016). They give
clear directions, employ scaffolding and provide plenty practice time to ensure
skills are well understood (Bailey, 2017) as well as breaking down lessons into
their component parts to allow for easy transitions (Teaching Channel, 2018).
Good teachers also employ the use of games and competitions to increase student
engagement (Teaching Channel, 2018)
Classroom management:
Keeping in mind that all behavior is learned, and that it changes based on its
consequences, good teachers employ classroom organisation techniques that
enhance teaching and learning (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016). Such teachers create a
consistent classroom routine, use physical proximity to stave off potential
disruptions, use group strategies like positive narration to change behavior,
employ non verbal cues to redirect students and individual strategies like
whispering to curb acting out behaviour (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016; Teaching
Channel, 2018).
Learning and Motivation:
Good teachers have a positive attitude to their work and work to engage and
motivate students’ learning (Peterson-DeLuca,
2016). Good teachers also employ positive reinforcement strategies like feedback
and praise and are deliberate about making the class inviting and fun by being
expressive. Such teachers are deliberate about their classroom layout and
design, are careful to schedule rest times between activities and they are also
intentional about ensuring their instructional techniques fit the student’s
needs (Cini, 2017).
Creating a classroom to which students gravitate: According to the Great Schools Partnership
article (2014) good classroom management, those skills that teachers use to
ensure students behave in an orderly manner, are organised and focused,
attentive, on-task and productive, are the key to transforming a class into a
magnet for students. An environment of learning that follows such guidelines is
an environment in which effective teaching and learning can happen. Teachers
who also take an interest in their students, care about the community and work
to build positive relationships with parents, administrators and students turn
their classrooms into magnets for learners (Young, 2014). Students have a
plethora of cards stacked against their ability to learn on any given day. The
teacher who takes time to work with students emotions by asking questions that
seek to find out the origins of behaviours that impede learning would have
moved in leaps and bounds toward creating the kind of classroom to which
students gravitate (Cini, 2017). Conducting a learning environment audit to
help oneself discover on and off task time, frequency of acting out behaviours
and precursors of such behaviours will give a good teacher the background
information, knowledge and perhaps create the room for empathy that is required
to handle such problems in a positive and respectful manner (Cini, 2017).
References 
Choe, Y.
(n.d.). Becoming a Positive Teacher. ASCD: Professional Learning
& Community for Educators. https://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol4/405-newvoices.aspx
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