Three Traits of a Good Teacher

"We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give."- Sir Winston Churchill

Teaching is a profession. Some enjoy it while some don't. For those who do not find joy in teaching, they consider it only as a stable job. It is considered to be a lifetime employment to get by and obtain a meager pension upon retirement. Boring to some, just like the students who detest going to a dreary school.

What about the others who enjoy teaching despite its low pay? What satisfaction do they get? These successful teachers have positive attitudes that aim for their students to love learning. They want their students to enjoy the lessons and discover their own capabilities. They inspire students to appreciate books and encourage them to read to obtain more information. Teaching is also a vocation.

Good teachers have at least three traits. They have classroom management skills, knowledgeable of the subject matter, and instructional design and delivery skills.

A teacher with classroom management skills knows how to set rules on the first day of school in order to maintain order for the rest of the year. A skillful teacher should also provide routines and procedures that will ease transition inside the classroom to maximize time for learning. Moreover, to keep the students motivated, the effective teacher should coach, guide, and inspire the students to do very well. Their paths should be enlightened so that they will achieve something noble in the future instead of being a liability to the society. The teacher should also be skillful in providing rewards and consequences to students. Good behavior and academic excellence should be encouraged while nonconformance to rules and performance standards should be reprimanded for improvement.

A good teacher should be knowledgeable of the subject matter being taught. In addition, an instructor should keep abreast with the latest developments through reading, attending conferences, and participating in workshops. A teacher who is also a lifelong learner promotes the same practice to the students. Lecturers are more effective in imparting vital information to the students if they are armed with broad knowledge.

Another important trait of a teacher is to have instructional design and delivery skills. Lessons delivered everyday should be well planned. Some teachers even follow a format such as an anticipatory set, objective, activity, discussion, closure, assessment, and feedback. Other educators consider the learning styles and preferences of the students when planning lessons and activity. They believe that every student is capable of learning; although some students are slow learners while others are gifted with very high intelligence too advanced for their age. There are also students with special needs that require different methods. They may have attention disorders, difficulty in reading, difficulty in writing, visually impaired, physically impaired, and hearing impaired. Furthermore, a lecturer is able to deliver the lessons in an effective manner through

explanations, citing examples and case studies, demonstrations, and modeling of difficult concepts that are clear, coherent, and organized. The moderator should also allow the students to be interactive and exploratory during learning time to eliminate boredom. Instead of the rigid direct instruction method, interactive students are motivated to learn more. Eventually, they are able to develop their critical and analytical thinking skills. To check each student's strengths and weaknesses, the teacher should provide feedback regarding their performance. In this manner, the student will be able to make adjustments and the teacher can assist in providing each one with a learning plan. In other words, each student is given the opportunity to improve, thus, achieving the goal of the lesson's objective.

When all of these things are considered, good teachers should then have at least these three traits to make every lesson interesting. They must have classroom management skills, proficient content knowledge, and instructional design and delivery skills. An effective teacher coaches, guides, and inspires students to develop their academic abilities as well as their employability in the work environment. As a result, students are persuaded to appreciate school and exert more effort in their studies. Therefore, school life will become more enjoyable to both teachers and students.

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