ALT-8 What Abilities must you have to become a Teacher
My first memory of classroom instruction is sitting in the back of my third-grade classroom in Denver, Colorado and listening to Mrs. Schneider drone. I have no recollection of what she was saying, but my friend leaned over to me and quoted Rhett Butler when he said, "Frankly my dear, I don't..."
So the truth is that Mrs. Schneider had completely lost our interest. This begs the question: What abilities must you have to become a good teacher? Of course, we could omit the word 'good' and make this an entirely different question, couldn't we?
Seriously now, what abilities must a person have to become a teacher?
You need to be able to talk and listen and write on the whiteboard or chalkboard. It also helps if you can read and write.
The difference between a teacher and a good teacher are myriad. Let's examine a few of the abilities and characteristics of good teachers, so that we can understand better what we must have in order to become one of these august personages.
LoveYes, it is esoteric, abstract and cliche, but it is also unequivocally true. In order to be a good teacher of students, you need to have love. Love for the subject, love for your job, love for your students. You need to be personally invested in the learning experience, and love is that catalyst for that personal investment.
The converse is too prevalent today. When a person does not have a certain level of personal investment in their classroom, subject and students, the students will immediately perceive this ambivalence and will tune out. Why? Because the students will see that they and the subject have no importance to the teacher, so why should the students care?
Love lifts us up; all you need is love; and all the other statements from Moulin Rouge can be forgotten as long as we understand that good teachers have found a way to love what they do and who they do it for.
KnowledgeSome might say that this characteristic should be first, but they are wrong. Love is the motivator, the catalyst, the passion that makes the learning experience valuable.
But without knowledge, love is not as well spent. Thus, a good teacher uses the love they have for the subject and students to be well-educated on the material that they are teaching.
This brings us to the issue of certification and the system of teaching credentials that has been adopted by the government school system. While this credentialing system has good intentions, it is failing. This system requires that teaching candidates jump through hoops rather than become knowledgeable about a subject. This system causes teaching candidates to enter the school system already feeling burned out by the many hoops they have just had to jump through. This complicated and lengthy system drives gifted teachers from the profession because those gifted teachers do not have the time, money or energy to continue to jump through administrative hoops. This credentialing system turns out more teachers than good teachers.
To become a good teacher, you must gain as much valuable knowledge on the subject you will teach as you can. You must also gain knowledge about how to teach and how to adapt your teaching for different students' needs.
EnergyYou must have the ability to maintain a high level of energy throughout the school days and weeks. This is a skill that can be developed through practice, and this practice is motivated by love. Students respond to teachers with energy; students feel that energy and are galvanized by it.
Just consider how little learning will happen in a classroom where the teacher stands in one place or sits still the entire time. Instead of instilling a love of learning in the students, lack of energy instills a frustrated boredom.
FriendlinessBeing able to show immediate respect and kindness to students helps a good teacher build a beautiful rapport with her students. This friendliness can be tempered with firmness and high expectations, to be sure, but discipline and order will be more easily maintained if a rapport has been established.
A simple case in point is when this writer taught English Literature and Composition in a secondary school that was for high-risk students. These students had been suspended and expelled from other schools and many of them had a criminal record. These students tended to be belligerant and confrontational, because they believed they were being judged.
When I arrived, I simply talked and listened to them. I learned their names the first day and demonstrated that I had learned their names on that day. I made a point of telling each of these students thank you for being there that day.
I never once had any kind of altercation happen in my classroom. Why? Because of mutual respect and a friendly rapport, coupled with discipline and high expectations.
ConfidenceStudents, while not malicious or intentionally hostile, will eat an unconfident teacher alive. Discipline will deteriorate rapidly when a teacher second-guesses himself. A good teacher will walk into a classroom and make that room his territory immediately. He will speak in a clear voice and describe his high expectations with firmness.
A confident teacher will simply and happily admit mistakes, even in front of the class. That teacher will then turn that moment into a valuable teaching moment.
OptimismRegular teachers can be cynical. Good teachers must be optimists. Good teachers must be willing to see the good in any and all students. Good teachers must be able to begin each day with the attitude that learning will happen and the students will have a valuable time in the classroom.
Cynicism has no place in the classroom. Often we will see teachers be cynical in order to appear cool and be at the level of the students. This is practically immoral. There must always be a clear relationship of teacher to student. This relationship establishes a line that must not be crossed. This relationship does not set the teacher above the student, but it does establish that the teacher is the provider and the student must be the willing, responsible receiver. An optimistic teacher will always expect that relationship to be present and will make efforts to maintain that proper relationship.
Surely there are more abilities and characteristics of a good teacher, but these are the most important. All of these abilities can be learned and improved through diligent and loving practice. So if you plan on becoming a teacher, you have your work cut out for you, but you also have the potential to enjoy one of the most rewarding careers on the planet.
