The Four Most Important Qualities for a Teacher to Have

There are so many qualities that a teacher should have in order to be successful in their profession.  However, more than anything, they must be observational, passionate, flexible, and authoritative.  When teaching in a classroom, there are many things that a teacher must be aware of.  A teacher has to monitor the class for people that may not be in the prime emotional state for learning.  They have to make sure that the class is following and learning the lesson.  They have to make sure that the classroom is comfortable so that the students can concentrate on learning.  The comfort level of a room alone has many factors that require a teacher’s attention.  Things like the temperature of the room, the lighting in the room, and the peer relationships in the room.  

A dancer in arabesque
photo from:
http://galleryhip.com/ballerina-arabesque.html 

Teachers also need to observe the world in a certain way that allows them to pull lessons from their real life experiences.  Relating lessons to the lives of students is very important to helping the students to retain the information that is being given to them.  If a teacher wants the students to remember things, they need to help the students to build relationships to the concepts that have already been established in their brains.  For example, if a math teacher knew that there were a lot students that danced in their room, they may want to relate right angles to the legs of a dancer that is in an arabesque.  Or a physics teacher might want to relate projectile motion to playing basketball if there are sports players in the room.  The observational skills that make all of these connections possible are not something that all people possess, but they are something that all teachers need.

No one should be a teacher without passion for what they are doing.  As a teacher, you have children looking up to you for guidance.  If it is visible that you are not happy with your job, there is no way that the students are going to remain interested in the topic that you are teaching.  These students are relying on you to teach them everything that they need to know to be successful in the world, and if they don’t think that you are taking them seriously, they are not going to respect you or anything that you have to say.  Passion keeps the energy of the classroom alive, which helps the students stay interested in the lessons, and the teacher to remain happy in their profession.

Flexibility is definitely necessary because there are many things that could come up throughout each class that could cause a delay in a lesson plan.  Between fire drills, emotions, illness, etc. there are numerous things that could push back the timing or the flow of the class.  A teacher needs to know when and how to change their plans without getting overwhelmed.  If a teacher becomes visibly overwhelmed, then the students may feel like they have to worry about the quality of the lesson that they are being taught.  Flexibility helps to keep the teacher sane and the classroom moving smoothly.

An authoritative teacher is necessary because expectations on behavior and the conduct of the classroom need to be maintained for the classroom to run smoothly.  A teacher needs to be reasonable with the expectations that they set up for the class, but they also must be constant.  There was nothing that frustrated me more, as a student, than a teacher that didn't follow through with the expectations that they had set into place.  How is the class supposed to take a teacher seriously if they don’t follow through with the discipline? That only sets the students up to not respect authority, and it causes that class to fail.  Ultimately, teachers need to be observational, passionate, flexible, and authoritative in order for them to have a successful and fulfilling career.