The most popular post in the history of this blog was called "Qualities of a Great Teacher". In that post, I asked students to list qualities of a great teacher. With all the talk lately about good and bad teachers (and the demoralizing bashing that they receive at the hands of legislators, public figures, and former software giants), I decided to ask again. This time, I added the words 'effective' in my inquiry. What are the qualities of a teacher who kids learn the most from. The current Department of Ed chief and Governor seem to think that a test can be given to help determine who would make an effective teacher.
Here is a Wordle I created from the results:
Looking at this, I imagine everyone expected nice, funny, fun to be large. Did you imagine strict would be?? There are a lot of reasons for that locally, but it matches what I have always known: Kids want to have fun and have someone who cares about them, but they also want structure.
I summarized the information in this way: Students want a positive, caring and fun teacher that can reteach things that are confusing students and can control the classroom. Isn't that what YOU want too? I admit as I read through the list and tabulated the results, I wondered which of the words would describe me and which ones would not.
With the exception of "Knows what they are talking about", NONE of the things on the kids' list could be measured on a test. Remember I asked them who they learned the most from, not who they liked.
Here is the actual list. Items with numbers behind them is how many other people had that same comment:
Takes time
to make sure each person understands what’s going on
Being strict
at times, though they can be very easy going if we listen and do as told.
Has humor-1
Cares -1
Hands on
Finds unique
ways to teach-1
Explains
things thoroughly -2
Not too
smart
Listens to
students
Has
structure/rules
Positive all
the time 2
Happy person
3
Fun to be in
class with
Teacher you
lessons you use later in life
Fun - 4
Obey the
rules but aren’t strict
Do
repetitive activities
Nice 12
They do fun
stuff with us -1
They show
many ways of solving a problem
Helpful
Does
activities-1
Caring-4
Trusting
Always
willing to help
I like a
teacher that gives many examples so I can learn them better
A teacher
that knows how to have fun-3
Funny-8
Happy all
the time
Confidence-2
Know your
lesson
Isn’t afraid
to break things down
Let us
talk-1
Intelligent
Good speaker
Helpful
Discipline 2
Let us work
in groups
Doesn’t get
mad at students
Positive-3
Puts in
extra time with you
A person
that is willing to teach it to you
Tough but
reasonable
Doesn’t yell-1
Is kind to
all kids-2
Doesn’t
judge
Treats you
like a student and sometimes a friend
Someone you
can joke with
Someone that
keeps order in the classroom
Passionate
about their work
Cheerful
Doesn’t hate
children
Likes what
they teach
Always
outgoing
Willing to
listen to my thoughts
Appropriate
Puts their
best effort into their teaching
Knows what
he/she is doing/talking about-2
Not strict
Can be stern
at times-1
Must be
willing to help a student
Good grading
scale
Professional
but friendly
Smart
Bonds with
students
Not really
old
Likes sports
Relates to
students
Engages in
classroom activities
Takes
student feedback and tries to adjust to it within reason
Teaches the
lessons with analogies that don’t relate to the subject
Relaxed yet
strict environment
Helps you
out when you need it and makes sure you understand it before you continue
Doesn’t
ignore any student
Doesn’t pick
favorites-3
Helps you
one on one
Not always
serious
Relate
things to life experiences
Supportive
Creative
Easy going
and a little strict at times-1
Doesn’t
bring personal problems in the class
Treats
people as equal
Makes things
fun
Has an
orderly classroom with structure
A teacher
that understands me-4
Appropriate-1
Cares for/about
students-1
Loving
Determined
A good taste
in shoes
Wears a nice
pair of slacks
Has a good
haircut
Teachers who
go back and reteach criteria if students don’t understand
Teacher that
wants the kids to learn. A lot of teachers just give you a book and expect you
to know and won’t answer questions
Cares about
student grades
A teacher
who tells it like it is
Trustworthy
Someone that
knows how to discipline enough that we’re still having fun
Willing to
listen
Someone who
doesn’t just talk all the time
Doesn’t
leave people out
Good sense
of humor-2
Teaches in a
fun way while still keeping it all appropriate
Isn’t afraid
to laugh or sound stupid
Is a good
example
Knows how to
tell a joke about they they’re teaching
Keeps class
interesting
Can keep
control of the class
Words things
so we can understand them
3 comments:
This is a great activity to do with kids and a wonderful use of technology to tabulate the results! Very interesting!!!
I can just hear the ed reform crowd now: "Almost none of these things tell us whether students LEARNED something or not. Harrumph!"
Thanks for the comments, Mrs. Hillman and Dr. McLeod! Mr. Glass responded to me last night via Twitter with these comments:
"Thanks 4 shout out in the blog TJ. I agree with your students' list. However, qual tching can be reliably measured. #IAEdFuture"
"There are also reliable indicators of future educator quality. All are probabilistic, but better than nothing at all. #IAEdFuture."
"the question of "can quality teaching be determined & measured" has both empirical and normative aspects. Interesting discussion."
My return comments emphasized that tests do not and can not determine who makes a good teacher. From my 25 years in the classroom, I can safely say a person could have written the textbook in their subject area and still not be a great teacher.
Teaching is an art and a passion, reducing it down to something you could put on a test is infuriating and disrespectful.
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