What Makes a Good Teacher?

The process of getting education, that we are enrolled into during our life, implies dozens of classroom-based courses held by different teachers. As far as human’s nature is judgmental we give all those teachers different labels, like ‘a good teacher’, ‘a strict teacher’, ‘a demanding teacher’, etc. And what qualities and characteristics distinguish a good teacher?

To answer this question I tried to analyze my own experience of being a student and thought of my teachers I consider to be ‘good’ ones.

• A good teacher does not just give information; he/she is really enthusiastic for the subject and wants to share it with learners. When a teacher managed to transfuse their enthusiasm into me, my motivation, and thus my understanding of learning material, increased tremendously.
• A good teacher shows respect towards his/her learners and treats them more like colleagues or partners.
• A good teacher tries to create a positive and collaborative atmosphere in the classroom. 
• Another important trait of a good teacher is an excellent preparation for a lesson. A good teacher always prepares all materials in advance, as well as he/she always has a backup plan.
• A good teacher is creative and students never get dull during the lesson as far as it is full of various meaningful and interesting activities.
• And last but not least, a good teacher has a sense of humour. He/she knows when it is appropriate to laugh with a class, because humour within the classroom can reduce embarrassment and release tension students might feel.

We can observe the presence/absence of these characteristics while watching online videos of someone teaching. Although we will never know if this teacher is really supportive, enthusiastic, well-prepared and has a great sense of humour or he just plays to the camera.

To sum up I’d like to quote William Arthur Ward: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires”.