Some people attribute classroom success and student achievement to administrative leadership, while others view parent support and current curriculum as key. Even though all of these factors are important, one supersedes the others: the value of an exceptional teacher.
Defining what an exceptional teacher is becomes the next greatest obstacle. From my experience, though, quality teachers exemplify three main characteristics:
Compassion
A great teacher has to care. If you don’t care about your students, you should not be a teacher. Without compassion, you will not be successful in a teaching career. As John C. Maxwell once said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” This rings true in every classroom not only across the country, but around the world.
A Coach Mentality
Great teachers know when to use the Shut Up and Move Over (SUMO) method. This means giving students the time to learn and the freedom to learn in the way that suits them best. This is one of the most difficult things for teachers to do. It means giving up control and becoming and educational coach. A teacher with a coach mentality motivates, encourages, and most importantly, remains patient while staying engaged.
Adaptability
Finally, a teacher has to have both the ability and willingness to change. As society and students become more tech-savvy, teachers must take advantage of technology or risk becoming irrelevant. The automobile replaced the horse and buggy, and it allowed people to travel greater distances in less time. Technology allows great teachers to engage their students with multimedia lessons, to experience the world from the safety of their computer lab. It allows great teachers to network with teachers across the world to share methods, experiences, and effective teaching solutions from the comfort of their classrooms.
Teaching is and always will be a noble profession, and the responsibility is enormous. If teachers truly care about the well-being of their students, if they are willing to support the student while giving each student the time to learn in a way that suits that individual student best, and if they are able to adapt and take advantage of the technology that now surrounds them, they will be great teachers.
Tracy Kidder explains it best: “Most teachers have little control over school policy or curriculum or choice of texts or special placement of students, but most have a great deal of autonomy inside the classroom. To a degree shared by only a few other occupations, such as police work, public education rests precariously on the skill and virtue of the people at the bottom of the institutional pyramid.”
