Can you recall your school days when you used to feel drowsy during a lecture? Did you always think punctured in all the subjects?
No, students often get bored when the way of teaching is usual or dry. Most students learn things comparatively faster when taught by including engaging and delightful ways. It's not the subject that matters; a good teacher has the quality of transforming boring subjects into interesting ones.
The most common question students often ask one another is, who is your favourite teacher? Have you ever wondered why that is asked? Only the subjects taught are different the teachers' educational background is likely the same. Here is when qualities come into the picture. Having several degrees is not just the only way to become a good teacher. There are a bunch of aspects that go along. So do you want to know the top 10 qualities of a good teacher?
1) Effective Communication Skills
Communication is exchanging ideas, thoughts, and knowledge, but just delivering the message is not what communication is. The main element of it is the person listening to you must understand.
Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity. Effective communication by teachers makes students comfortable putting forward their views and sharing ideas. Have you ever wondered why you get bored attending some teacher's class? There are many reasons: maybe you don't like the subject, the way of teaching is not interesting, or the possibility of you existing just physically. Still, your brain is living in its own fantasy world. Many of you can relate to it, or maybe the kind of teacher communicating is not fascinating to you, and the list of reasons goes on. This is where the quality of effective communication comes into sight, there are various ways to deliver a message, but not everyone's statement sounds engaging, right?
2) Formation OF Growth Mindset
There’s a book named “Mindset” by Carol Dwek, one of its lovely statements says, “People in a growth mindset don’t just seek challenge, they thrive on it”. “The growth mindset does allow people to love what they’re doing—and to continue to love it in the face of difficulties”. “Those with the growth mindset found success in doing their best, in learning and improving. The qualities of good teachers are to enable their students to adapt to new skills and encourage them to learn with perseverance. This is what a growth mindset is all about. A growth mindset is important as it helps the student to overcome hurdles while achieving a goal. This quality makes the student embrace new challenges. Also, changing the way you think can change how you learn.
3) Being Patient
Mahatma Gandhi once said, "To lose patience is to lose the battle". Many of you can relate to it. Have you ever made a quick decision without thinking for a while, or do you wonder about quitting a task very soon without giving it a shot? You must have experienced it at least once in your life, or maybe more than once. Being patient is one of the important qualities a good teacher possesses, from witnessing students' academic progress to winning a class competition after months. Every small aspect requirespatience. There is a saying, "Good things come to those who wait". Being patient allows the formulation of constructive decisions. The quality of patience in teachers is essential as it helps to understand several positive and negative classroom situations. Also, in dealing with parents' questions and problems teacher's patience plays a major role.
4) Leadership
There's a great saying by John C. Maxwell, "A leader knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. Leadership is one of the qualities of teachers, including many elements, from monitoring students to managing events in school. A teacher leadsefficiently, transforms tough aspects into simple ones and shows the right path. Leaders are the ones whom students look up to as their role models and mentor. Due to teachers' positive and optimistic qualities, students tend to look up to them and admire them.
5) Child Psychology
According to research, 1 in 6 children aged 2-8 years has a mental, behavioural or developmental disorder. It's very important for teachers to read students' brains. You must have surely been in a situation where your lie or excuse of not doing homework was caught. A good teacher is quite familiar with understanding a child's mental health. This quality in teachers opens the path to making tough topics easy to understand. Some deep words said by Dr Karyn Purvis " In order to help our children heal, we must understand and address the differences in their brain, body, biology, andbeliefs. Understanding the child's brain enables teachers to initiate unique learning processes and ways to learn and memorize.
6) Enthusiasm
Creating a positive environment in the classroom has a major favourable impact on students. Imagine, in order to get admission to your desired university, you are preparing for the entrance exam, but the environment in which you are studying is invariably disturbed and turbulent. It's obvious that you won't be able to study, right? It's essential for teachers to think positively and develop a positive environment through which it comparatively becomes easy for students to adapt to tough aspects. A positive attitude lowers the rate of depression and establishes better problem-solving ways and higher levels of achievement. Positive and optimistic thinking makes an individual motivated and urges to work through challenges in the classroom and in life.
7) Positive Thinking Ability
Creating a positive environment in the classroom has a major favorable impact on students. Imagine in order to get admission to your desired university you are preparing for the entrance exam but the environment in which you are studying is invariably disturbed and turbulent, it's obvious that you won't be able to study, right? It's essential for teachers to think positively and develop a positive environment through which it comparatively becomes easy for students to adapt to tough aspects. A positive attitude lowers the rate of depression and establishes better problem-solving ways and higher levels of achievement. Positive and optimistic thinking makes an individual motivated and urges to work through challenges both in the classroom and in life.
8) A good listener
Being attentive to the speaker and listening with an inquisitive mind is known as a good listener. "A leader must be a good listener. He must be willing to take counsel. He must show a genuine concern and love for those under his stewardship"; this statement is rightly said by James Faust. One of the good qualities of the teacher is that he/she should be a good listener; giving attention and listening sympathetically to the student's opinion builds a positive relationship. A teacher does not hear the student. Instead, a good teacherlistensto them. Hearing and listening are distinct.
9) Creative Thinking
Transforming difficult topics into simple and easy understanding is an art of good teachers, involving creative instances for students is not a cup of tea for every other person. You must have come across when learning or mugging up key points was not an easy task. That was the moment when creative teachers used to make it easy for you. Here's an example delivered by creative thinking teachers to remember the periodic table "Oh, Seema Sent The Post", and the elements are O- Oxygen, S-Sulfur, Se- Selenium, Te- Tellurium, and Po- Polonium. Don't worry, I will not start a science class, but if I continue, I don't think you will get bored, as it includes learning creatively. This quality in teachers helps the events and programs run smoothly and effectively.
10) Humour
You must be wondering why is this quality needed to become a good teacher isn't it? Let me take a wild guess; you must have enjoyed being present in a lecture where a teacher often cracks jokes. Attending long hour class, constantly listening, sitting still without a blink, right palm resting on the cheek, with no expression, no one admires being in that posture. Instead, most students prefer nodding and understanding, interacting, asking questions and doubts, raising a hand to answer, and getting amused by smart humour. In order to bring children into the present moment and stop them from entering the fictional world, teachers often choose to burst a joke to get their attention back. This is why most of the time, teachers tend to add an important statement after saying a humorous thing, as the students are comparatively attentive and concentrating. This is a strategy and a decent quality of good teachers.
Conclusion
A good teacher can engage their students in learning, inspire them to do their best, and provide them with the tools they need to succeed. They are patient, knowledgeable, and genuinely interested in helping their students grow. If you are considering becoming a teacher or are already in the profession, keep these qualities in mind. They will help you to be the best teacher you can be!
A good teacher is someone who not only imparts knowledge but also inspires students to be lifelong learners.
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