HOW TO BE A GOOD TEACHER

Being a good teacher can be the most rewarding and exciting job in the world - however, being a teacher that doesn't work effectively can be stressful, painful, and exhausting. Here are some great tips to being the best teacher you can be.

Set the example. Remember that you are the teacher. It is important for you to be like a "superhero" figure in their eyes. Remember that your students look up to you and will thus try to mimic your dispositions. If you are rude or inappropriate, they will have an inappropriate model for their behavior. It is vital that students see you as a person with confidence, so that they follow your lead, and feel comfortable trusting you. Students, of all ages, need someone they can lean on, look up to, and be able to trust.

Have well-defined consequences. Set specific consequences for breaking the rules. Decide what those consequences are and then implement them consistently. Your consequences should follow a procedure that starts with a non-verbal signal (such as just looking at the student), to a verbal signal (asking the student to please stop talking), to a verbal warning (if this continues there will be consequences), to the implementation of the consequence. The consequences are up to you and depend on the program of the school. Many schools have a detention system (students do despise detentions), or perhaps writing lines, or sitting away from other students.

Be compassionate. Great educators form strong relationships with their students and show that they care about them as people. They are warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. Be open to staying at school after-hours to help students or get involved in school-wide committees and activities, and they demonstrate a commitment to the school.

Set some ground rules. You should have 3-5 rules that the students know about. These are the rules that, when broken, are subject to the consequence scheme outlined above. Try allowing the class to suggest the ground rules: have a class discussion and write ideas, it makes the class feel they are listened to and that you care about their opinions and input while also setting some groundwork that they will feel loyal to because they've made it. Act as a mediator to make sure that the rules decided upon are appropriate. Some may be, for instance, be quiet when the teacher is talking, respect each other, and finish the homework and classwork.