Nov
29
2007
5 Character Traits Of Great Teachers
As we come to the conclusion of Reader Appreciation Month, I want to summarize some of the things that we have learned. Today, I’ll focus on some of the character traits of people who were indicated by my readers as their favorite teachers. Some of the character traits were mentioned by multiple people. We’ll call these the Top 5 Character Traits of Great Teachers. If you want to be a great teacher, these are the things you should begin to develop first.
Top 5 Character Traits of Great Teachers
- Inspired me and never let me settle for anything less than my best (10)
- Compassionate, caring, made me feel important and welcomed, made a personal connection with me (7)
- Were demanding, pushed me hard (4)
- Had a great sense of humor (3)
- Knowledge of the subject matter (3)
Other specifics
- Wasn’t afraid of what other people thought (2)
- Passion for the subject matter (2)
- Challenged me to think beyond just the answer in the textbook (2)
- Listened to my ideas
- Taught me new things
- A terrific fund raiser
- Kept things interesting
- They were interactive
- Added personal elements to the classroom
- Organized
- Wasn’t fake or shallow with comments to students
- Discipline
- Confidence
- They were problem solvers, rather than simply problem identifiers
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Nice post, Joel. What surprised me is the first trait. I did this activity with both my lower-secondary school students and my students at the teacher-training faculty, but neither of the groups came with something alike. Reconsidering: none group spoke about the third one either.
I wonder why is it that the students realize that while being demanding and “trying-to-get-the-best”, we mean no harm?
Heya – just found your blog, and why didn’t I find it sooner? I used to be a teacher at a small local college, and this would have helped tremendously back then. Even now, it’s still a fascinating read, so I just wanted to say thanks.
Cheers,
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net
Modern personal development, entwined with ancient spirituality.
workaholic: Exactly! I was in my last class today and one of the girls said, “You’re mean!” Then she clarified, “I’m just kidding. You’re nice. But you’re strict!” I love hearing that stuff…
Albert: I hope you enjoy looking around the blog half as much as I enjoy putting it together. It’s great to have you as a new reader here.
Another great trait is to be able to learn also. Teachers can learn a lot if they listen to their students and hear what they have to teach us. They have great ideas. Also if a teacher can be a student, this lets me know that she is interested and is willing to open up to new ideas.
Oh, no kidding. I can’t tell you how many times I have learned a lot just by teaching. I had a clinic last week where I had a friend come in and work with my band. We had dinner and talked afterwards. I learned a whole lot from that night. Great stuff!