What Makes a Teacher Good
Tips and Ideas on How to Succeed in the High School Classroom
All throughout the day, a teacher makes an infinite number of decisions. How often do these decisions reflect the interpersonal side of a teacher or in short, your teacher's personality?
Whether you are a new or seasoned teacher, teaching calls for different roles: educator, organizer, speaker, instructor. In a daily routine of teaching, a teacher exercises much more than just imparting information to kids. As such, a teacher's interpersonal skills are just as important to the classroom. In fact, a teacher's personality is what the kids will remember and take with them when they finish studying with you. In this article, you will get some tips on how to hone your positive attributes as a teacher that you may have not been aware of until reading this article.
Patience, patience, patience
How patient are you? With thirty five or more students in a classroom, being patient is a hard thing to come by. In which scenarios have you exercised the most patience? Where could you have exercised more? Some difficult classes will always challenge your patience but the more in tuned you are with your inner self, the easier it will be to deal with those negative students and even negative teachers, administrators, and parents all throughout your day.
Take a deep breath before entering the classroom and take it one step at a time. The Power of Patience by M.J. Ryan is a nifty anecdotal book that brings the concept of patience to a global as well as personal level, and there are tips a teacher can take from this book as well.
You're not Listening!
Some teachers never seem to hear what students are saying when it comes to their grades for example. Overworked teachers also are too busy with their hectic schedules to always lend an ear to their fellow colleagues at times. But don't feel disheartened. Being a better listener will help you through the day and perhaps become a bit more understanding and aware.
With teacher dominated talk, it's easy to spring forth and voice your opinion or talk throughout the lesson. Sometimes stopping the lesson is just as effective. Ty to hear the other side and what is being said at the given moment. Building a more effective dialogue with students allows a teacher to get some distance from the situation at hand and the students' emotions. Being a good listener also affects good staff dynamics and it is now an important quality in demand in many work situations, not only exclusive to teachers.
Other Interpersonal and intrapersonal skills
- communicating sympathy and empathy (showing care and concern when needed)
- showing appreciation
- giving positive recognition
- giving support and advice to new teachers
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