What makes a great teacher?
Who is your favorite teacher? Why?


I am trying to figure out make makes a great and terrible teacher, and see if the class they teach influence you likes or dislikes about the subject. I have had so many inspirational teachers in my life, that influenced me not only to study what I am studying in college, but wanting to actually teach and influences students like how I was when I was in school. And I was wondering what other people think of their teachers, other than talking to other wanna be teachers in my major, because obviously they are in the same boat as me...so how can I learn?

One of my favorite teachers Dr. kaloustion teaches Brit. Lit, Shakespeare etc. I like how he lets the students talk instead of lecturing and he gets excited when we come up with things he's never thought of. He never tells us flat out that we are wrong either, he asserts his own opinions without tearing down the students. He's also very accessible, I feel like I can talk to him as a person and not just a student.

What I think makes a great teacher is:

-They are able to understand the students frustrations and help them understand what the teacher is teaching. The teacher doesn't merely say, "Oh come on, the rest of the class got it, why can't you?", or "This is easy, how come you don't get it???".

-Patience is a virtue as they say. The teacher must be able to cope with the student's frustration. You must be able to find a way that helps them understand. Everyone learns differently.

-A teacher should be able to make whatever they are teaching sound fun and interesting. Not just stand there with a monotone voice telling the class about whatever the topic is. And if you involve everyone in what is going on, it's more fun, and learning is more interesting.

-I honestly think that a teacher shouldn't be mean to the class. It makes everyone hate the teacher, and the subject the teacher is teaching. They must be able to control the class when needed of course. But coming in and snapping at anything isn't the way to go. I always loved teachers who were fun :3, they made the class great to look forward to.

-I've also noticed that if you cannot find something to relate to with the topic you're teaching, it's SOOO boring and hard to understand whatever the topic is. I believe that this is why people don't get math. They don't see the point in learning it. "When am I going to actually use this in real life???", "What is there to relate to this that makes it easier to understand???".

-A great teacher should also have a great learning environment. If the classroom looks plain and boring, the class itself is going to be bored as hell.

Those are just some points that I could think of what makes a great teacher. I'm sure that other people will agree with some of what I said =3

@Kelken - Lecturing is one thing I do need to practice not to do every time, my mister tells me when I get excited about something, I act as if I am a book and I am reading myself.

@Laila Izuka - A lot of the points you bring up on what makes a great teacher is what I am being taught now at college. Though some things seems to be a slippery-slope, for example the way the room is layed out or decorated, could really bring the student in and turned on about a subject but might turn off another.


Thank you both so much for your incite!

I think a great teacher is one who inspires you to learn. If you want to learn, teaching becomes easier. Its one of those mutual things that makes things perfect.

Really interesting thread you made here. I'm a teacher, so I love reading about these kinds of experiences. :)

My favorite teachers were the ones who exploded with energy. You would walk into their room and automatically feel like you could run a marathon. They never gave up on anyone and made sure that every single student's voice was heard during each class period. I loved being able to sit and listen to them get excited about their subject, especially when they would relate it to current events and issues going on in the world.

Originally Posted by Knerd

Really interesting thread you made here. I'm a teacher, so I love reading about these kinds of experiences. :)

My favorite teachers were the ones who exploded with energy. You would walk into their room and automatically feel like you could run a marathon. They never gave up on anyone and made sure that every single student's voice was heard during each class period. I loved being able to sit and listen to them get excited about their subject, especially when they would relate it to current events and issues going on in the world.

Oooo.. What subject/grade you teach?

I think I good teacher is a person who first of all likes teaching. That they are a good listener and that they want to sit down and take some personal time with the students and work through problems and stuff. I also think a good teacher is one who takes the time to get to know their students.

I also like teachers who make learning fun and interesting. Like if their happens to be a boring subject/topic/class, and they put a creative twist on it and makes it fun and enjoyable for everyone.

@nightlydeity: what grades do you want to teach?

All of my really great teachers used entertainment to teach. There were three of them total and all of them were exceptional at tricking us into learning XD. In first and second grade, Mrs. Kendrick used songs and living examples to teach us science. In 9th and 10th my biology teacher Mrs, Ferguson used stories from her years as a nurse to teach us, and we didn't even know it was happening. In 10th and 11th grade my teacher Mrs Davis let us express ourselves in writing (and I don't just say that, she let us be the real us) and made us love each and every thing she put in our little minds. If someone wanted to rap their poetry in class she would let them, and the same if someone just wanted to read from their desks in a quiet voice. As for bad teachers, I only ever really had one. In 6th grade we had a reading teacher that took the word 'work' to seriously. It was the only year in my entire life that I did not get an A or B in a reading class. I passed with a D because I could not stand his brand of teaching.

Originally Posted by nightlydeity

Oooo.. What subject/grade you teach?

High school Social Studies.
Right now, I'm teaching Black History and 9th grade Economics. :)

Originally Posted by Kelken

@nightlydeity: what grades do you want to teach?

I wish to teach Latin Language in High School.

Originally Posted by Knerd

High school Social Studies.
Right now, I'm teaching Black History and 9th grade Economics. :)

Oh I loved Social Studies when I was in school, I used to be the kind that never touch the text book in that subjected and got 100% on those papers.

Originally Posted by Nissa

All of my really great teachers used entertainment to teach. There were three of them total and all of them were exceptional at tricking us into learning XD. In first and second grade, Mrs. Kendrick used songs and living examples to teach us science. In 9th and 10th my biology teacher Mrs, Ferguson used stories from her years as a nurse to teach us, and we didn't even know it was happening. In 10th and 11th grade my teacher Mrs Davis let us express ourselves in writing (and I don't just say that, she let us be the real us) and made us love each and every thing she put in our little minds. If someone wanted to rap their poetry in class she would let them, and the same if someone just wanted to read from their desks in a quiet voice. As for bad teachers, I only ever really had one. In 6th grade we had a reading teacher that took the word 'work' to seriously. It was the only year in my entire life that I did not get an A or B in a reading class. I passed with a D because I could not stand his brand of teaching.

Oh I hated when teachers use the term "work", or parents too also saying school is your "job". I think the teachers that use the work term that are the worst are professors, because the time it is to start and finish their work for their class, I just don't have time to work on anything else...and as for job, I am clearly not getting any direct payment for it.

Wow, wish I took Latin. High schoolers are tough, what inspires you to teach them?

Well Kelken, I wasnt sure I could teach Latin to grade schools...thehe, but seriously, I knoW High School will be a little bit more of a challenge, but I think in High School is where we start to really begin to figure out our likes and dislikes. My hopes is that I can get a lot of people to like Latin again that it can be reinvigorated as a study. Also, I think with High School students, we can now come to the age where we can read any type of literature, and argue why we (dis)agree with the author with some tact. I love hearing what others have to say about the same thing I have read. With an opinion different than yours, it really opens up a mind to a larger understanding about the world around you, and with High School though I shall age over time, they will stay the same age and have different views when the generations change. As for younger children, regardless of generational differences I feel they all seems to be the same in thought, and specially younger, the lack of depth in abstract thought.

That's true, understand
Teachers don't get the credit they deserve, I admire your decisiveness
It's clear that you're passionate about teaching if you are trying to improve
So I wish you good luck, buena suerte, gambatte, and felicitas.

Thank you so much :)

I would have to say, my favorite instructors would have to be Chef Wolfgang Stampe, and Chef Margaret Turner. Both of them taught me more than I ever imagined I would learn while attending college. And both of them are my favorites because they both wouldnt waste their breath on anyone they didnt think could go the distance and become an excellent Chef. Oh, and then there is also Chef Jason Boyd. He was just so relaxed, and changed EVERYTHING about the breakfast class when my group got to do it. All in all, he revamped the whole module to include a buffet that was designed by the original instructor of the module, then a buffet that we the students created. I ended up having one of my recipies on there(Campfire Bannoc).

As for exactly what makes an excellent teacher/instructor? Well, someone who pushes you past your limits to show you what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it. Someone who, even if you are failing the class by .5%, and sees that you have great potential, gives you that .5% so that you dont need to come back for 1 class when you should be graduated(Thank you Chef Maxwell J. Lawrence for doing that for me). All in all, someone who also listens to your ideas, and if they are a good idea, try to add them to the curriculum(or menu in my case :P)

Draciolus


Thank you for your spin on education! Its seems like your Chefs were great teachers, and I must admit I am a bit peckish now.

i find that the teacher that i like best is one who knows how to challenge you, yet is mature enough to know where a student's limits are.

most teachers either push the student too far beyond their capabilites, and blaming the student to be either stupid or slow, or they either take things WAY too easy that most students feel limited and not given enough challenge to think for themselves.

for me, the best teachers i had were from my home-school days, where my online instructors would offer help when i really needed it, yet knew when to make me think for myself when she thought i was getting bored.

Originally Posted by chong69

i find that the teacher that i like best is one who knows how to challenge you, yet is mature enough to know where a student's limits are.

most teachers either push the student too far beyond their capabilites, and blaming the student to be either stupid or slow, or they either take things WAY too easy that most students feel limited and not given enough challenge to think for themselves.

for me, the best teachers i had were from my home-school days, where my online instructors would offer help when i really needed it, yet knew when to make me think for myself when she thought i was getting bored.

Was your home-schooling days like an online course that was one-on-one with a course instructor? Or was this just a part of your home-schooling? I am quiet interested on how these instructors help your education.

Originally Posted by nightlydeity

Was your home-schooling days like an online course that was one-on-one with a course instructor? Or was this just a part of your home-schooling? I am quiet interested on how these instructors help your education.

well, try to check out Penn Foster Career School. you can google it up. They are one of the top Distance Schools in the USA, and offer a lot of help to their current and prospective students. (goodness i sound like a paid advertisement! :D )

It was part of my home-schooling. I would either contact them via Phone or Live Chat. I was home-schooled for the remainder of my High School days, opting for that path rather than Juvenile High... :D

Originally Posted by chong69

well, try to check out Penn Foster Career School. you can google it up. They are one of the top Distance Schools in the USA, and offer a lot of help to their current and prospective students. (goodness i sound like a paid advertisement! :D )

It was part of my home-schooling. I would either contact them via Phone or Live Chat. I was home-schooled for the remainder of my High School days, opting for that path rather than Juvenile High... :D

Thank you so much! I am going to check PFCS out.:)

Well a good teacher is someone who is interactive with their class and knows what their talking about. They can't just sit down and drone on and on about the crap their trying to teach, or just write a problem on the board and tell us to solve it. My favorite teacher were my 9th/12th grade history teacher(I had him both years because I failed the one I had in 11th, so they moved me to a new teacher) and my 11th Grade math teacher. She was the only math teacher I ever had who was any good.

I think what makes a great teacher is simple... a teacher who loves their job, and loves watching their students grow and develop from their teaching...

My favorite teacher... probably my college English teacher =) she makes class laid back and makes it a stress free environment... which personally makes doing work a lot more stress free

Least favorite? Probably the teacher that broke my desk... rather stressed herself I think... which is another reason I like stress free teachers XD

Right now I am hoping to continue my French throughout highschool and be able to teach English as a foreign language someday. I might also teach French as a foreign language as well.
The reason for this is because of my French teacher, Mr. R. He's always excited when we understand something, or when we figure out something that he hasn't taught us before. He teaches us about the French culture as well as the language.
I guess a good teacher is one that is enthusiastic and passionate about what they're doing. Anyway, bonne chance with your goal.