Everybody has had a teacher who was not effective. Some students had more bad teachers than others. What makes an effective teacher? There are a lot of factors that are in play, like if the teacher does the bare minimum or goes above and beyond. Everybody has different opinions of how a teacher should teach. It is difficult to define what makes an effective teacher.
A teacher should teach differently as the years go on. It might not seem like much of a difference starting out, but if a teacher does not update their teaching style, they will end up not being as effective. No one likes a teacher who they cannot understand. As the years go on, the vocabulary for each generation changes. This isn’t exactly about vocabulary, but adapting to different learning styles to better help everyone.
Now, teachers should not use just any slang with kids and say stuff like “aura.” But there are some exceptions. If the word is just dropped casually in a sentence and it becomes common for older and younger generations to use it, teachers should consider using it. Of course, teachers do not want to say anything inappropriate, but they should consider things that gradually become normal to say everywhere that people forget it is a slang word like “busted.” Most people forget “busted” is a slang word and everyone uses it, but it is just a small detail that teachers can do to stay with the time.
Teachers should also change how they approach their curriculum year by year. As the years go by, students’ attention spans and how they retain information will change. Teachers should always make sure what they are teaching is possible for the kids to grasp, it might take a while, but the materials shouldn’t be confusing for every single person in the class. Some subjects will have more challenges than others.
For instance, if a whole class does not understand the skills an assignment covers, teachers should then reteach the concepts and as the school years go on they make it more complicated but at the pace of the student’s learning.
Teachers should also first let the students go over their mistakes on their own. Then teachers should go over what a student got wrong when asked about it instead of pushing it off and ignoring it. It’s easy for teachers to fall into a routine and not want to change the way they teach, this can make them have a clouded judgment and not admit fault.
“I think a good teacher is just someone who has a lot of patience, empathy, and high expectations,” said Ms. Ferguson, an English teacher.
Mr. Shaver, who teaches CAD, video making, and broadcasting highly believes, “What makes a good teacher is somebody patient and knowledgeable about both the content area and psychology of teenagers.”
Teachers should always strive to do better and help students feel comfortable. That way, more students will be interested in school and find out what they want to be when they grow up. All in all, teachers are very unappreciated, but that does not mean they should not try and help. There is only so much teachers can do, but teachers should do all they can to help a student while also letting them grow.
