. A great teacher respects students.

In a great teacher’s classroom, each person’s

ideas and opinions are valued. Students feel safe to express their feelings and learn to
respect and listen to others. This teacher creates a welcoming learning environment for
all students.

2. A great teacher creates a sense of community and belonging in the

classroom. The mutual respect in this teacher’s classroom provides a supportive,
collaborative environment. In this small community, there are rules to follow and jobs
to be done and each student is aware that he or she is an important, integral part of the
group. A great teacher lets students know that they can depend not only on her, but also
on the entire class.

3. A great teacher is warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. This person is

approachable, not only to students, but to everyone on campus. This is the teacher to
whom students know they can go with any problems or concerns or even to share a
funny story. Great teachers possess good listening skills and take time out of their way-
too-busy schedules for anyone who needs them. If this teacher is having a bad day, no
one ever knows—the teacher leaves personal baggage outside the school doors.

4. A great teacher sets high expectations for all students. This teacher realizes
that the expectations she has for her students greatly affect their achievement; she
knows that students generally give to teachers as much or as little as is expected of them.

5. A great teacher has his own love of learning and inspires students with his
passion for education and for the course material. He constantly renews himself as a
professional on his quest to provide students with the highest quality of education
possible. This teacher has no fear of learning new teaching strategies or incorporating
new technologies into lessons, and always seems to be the one who is willing to share
what he’s learned with colleagues.

6. A great teacher is a skilled leader. Different from administrative leaders,

effective teachers focus on shared decision-making and teamwork, as well as on
community building. This great teacher conveys this sense of leadership to students by
providing opportunities for each of them to assume leadership roles.
7. A great teacher can “shift-gears” and is flexible when a lesson isn’t working. This
teacher assesses his teaching throughout the lessons and finds new ways to present
material to make sure that every student understands the key concepts.

8. A great teacher collaborates with colleagues on an ongoing basis. Rather

than thinking of herself as weak because she asks for suggestions or help, this teacher
views collaboration as a way to learn from a fellow professional. A great teacher uses
constructive criticism and advice as an opportunity to grow as an educator.

9. A great teacher maintains professionalism in all areas—from personal

appearance to organizational skills and preparedness for each day. Her communication
skills are exemplary, whether she is speaking with an administrator, one of her students
or a colleague. The respect that the great teacher receives because of her professional
manner is obvious to those around her.

While teaching is a gift that seems to come quite naturally for some, others have to work
overtime to achieve great teacher status. Yet the payoff is enormous — for both you and
your students. Imagine students thinking of you when they remember that great teacher
they had in college!

Dr. Maria Orlando is a core faculty member in the doctoral Educational Leadership
and Management Specialization at Capella University. She also serves as an adjunct
professor at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.

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+16

Pat Boling· 147 weeks ago

This strikes me as a list of necessary but not sufficient conditions for being a great teacher. What makes a
teacher great is reaching to present difficult content, ideas, debates, issues in a lucid, compelling way,
time after time. A great teacher works hard to prepare, to think freshly about the material she's teaching,
and to find current examples that will grab her students' interest. A great teacher makes the classroom
magic happen, regularly. She or he elicits her students' best efforts and engages their minds, so that they
leave class still alive with ideas and comments, and they talk about what went on in class with their
friends, roommates, family when they get home too.

Reply
+9

@MagdinStoica· 147 weeks ago

Once in a while, something comes along that you want to carry with you, make a poster of and post it in
your office; something you need to read every now and then to remind you of your destination, something
to aspire and inspire. Today, your post was that "something". Thank you and thank you @FacultyFocus.

Reply

+13

suehellman41p· 147 weeks ago

I'd like to add several points to this list of 'greats' -- (1) great teachers create learning experiences rather
than instructional episodes -- by constantly refining how to get the students from what they arrive
knowing to what they need to understand or be able to do when they leave; (2) great teachers walk their
own talk -- by that I mean they embody and model the spirit of what they teach & expect of their students;
and (3) great teachers can see their own work through their students' eyes -- they have not lost their
personal connection to what it's like to be a student. When the learning goes well, a great teacher ensures
the students own this success. When it doesn't, the 'buck' lands firmly in the teacher's lap.

Reply
2 replies · active 145 weeks ago

+11

emn7891p· 147 weeks ago

Those who don't see themselves being all nine (or at least working diligently toward excellence in),
shouldn't be teaching. Having said that, perfection in all areas and all circumstances isn't attainable
either. So, I strive to learn and grow daily in these nine (and the additional items recommended by
suehellman). Some days are better than others (-:

Reply

+15

Greg C.· 147 weeks ago

A great list...and some great follow-up comments & suggestions - here's another one:
DON'T BE AFRAID TO MAKE MISTAKES (OR ADMIT THEM)!
A teacher is human and one of the best role modelling strategies we can impart on our students is to learn
from our mistakes. If you are wrong - 'fess up and fix it! We expect nothing less from our students. I think
this is a subset of high expectations and accountability, yes?

Reply

+10

Syed Sohail Ahmed· 147 weeks ago

In short a great teacher always follow

A RA , A=Acknowledge, R=respect and A= Appreciation

Reply

+9

Wayne· 147 weeks ago

A great teacher also encourages both genders. There is only on male pronoun used in the article!

Reply
2 replies · active 147 weeks ago

+2

aurora ma. veronika· 147 weeks ago

a great teacher do not allow exploitation of her environment, of her institution... especially when the
teaching is happening in the most uncomfortable, and among the poor countries in asia....

Reply

+3

John· 147 weeks ago

A great teacher is a guide and a facilitator, who leads by example.

Reply

+3

Laxmi Garigipati· 147 weeks ago

A great teacher is always a best guide, Friend and philosopher. This is a very good article and the points
gives a teacher a right direction.
Reply

+5

Kristin· 147 weeks ago

What a great article! I'll be sharing this with my Adult Education students this semester...

Reply

+4

lirek1p· 147 weeks ago

Fantastic article!! Thank you Maria! If I could be so bold as to add one more to the list? I believe great
teachers teach problem solving, not just how to find the "answer."

Reply

+11

Jeremiah Stanghini62p· 147 weeks ago

I think #5 (A great teacher has his own love of learning) is really important. Teachers needs to continually
renew themselves and their knowledge. The wisdom of today may not be the wisdom of tomorrow. In fact,
the wisdom of today may be proved wrong tomorrow.

Reply

+5

Life Long Learner· 147 weeks ago

Great post. Some of the points can be bunched into one. Thomas Anthony Angelo's Teachers
dozenwww.csuchico.edu/~lseder/ceeoc/teachers_dozen.pdf is a more complete list of what great teaching
entails.

Reply

+1

Anjie Kokan· 147 weeks ago

This is a wonderful reminder of what teachers who want to be great strive to do. I also like what Pat Boling
added to this. Thank you, Maria and Pat!
Reply

+1

Shawn Johnson, EdD.· 146 weeks ago

Reading the posts after the article was as informative and helped me grow as much as the article. Kudos to
you all. I would like to add that as elementary as this seems, creating a learning environment online that
helps students feel "safe." Safe to explore, to make mistakes, to try and not be judged for his/her thoughts
and opinions....to me, that is true learning and growth. Shawn Feaster Johnson, Ed.D.

Reply

+9

guest· 146 weeks ago

A great teacher is one who has an incredibly challenging class, a class of uninterested students - and the
teacher tries EVERYTHING but never gives up. One can have all the skills mentioned here and still not
move a class - and that is the biggest challenge of all - coming to class everyday willing to try something
new, never giving up although the class just never ignites. I've only had one class like this in my career,
fortunately. The comment that the students need to want to learn is a wise observation, and a true one; a
teacher is half the equation, and can only do so much, even the great ones. Not all students can be
inspired, unfortunately. But we can't stop trying!

Reply

+5

@judartbarnside· 145 weeks ago

A great teacher doesn't allow the students who struggle more often to fall through the cracks. The best
teachers are definitely the ones that treat each and every student with respect and the ones that will have
complete gratitude for you when you accomplish something, and be disappointed when you let yourself
slack. If you see your teacher's disinterest in a topic you tend to allow yourself to drift away, nothing is
more interesting to a student than seeing passion about a topic. Great teaching to me was the
incorporation of different teaching styles when one wasn't working and understanding that extra time
outside of class is necessary for every student to get where they need to be. There was students in my
classes who thoroughly didn't want to learn and if they even came to class, actively tried to disrupt it. The
teacher that got through to those students, even just once, were the most skilled as they understood that
everyone strives for something in life and could be personable enough to any student that the student
would reveal that dream. I am most grateful of the teachers in my life that embodied any of those aspects
and any of the nine above because without them I may not be where I am today.
Reply

+4

mbaskaran· 145 weeks ago

A great teacher inspires and heroic in communication.Usually teachers who teach primary level are those
who are fresh in the minds of students. These students keep their teachers in mind fresh and adore at all
time. They are great. So that type of qualities-NOBLE -MINDEDNESS- are essential

Reply

+6

AbigailB· 145 weeks ago

Personally, I believe that these characteristics ARE the bare minimum for being even a decent teacher.
That may be because my background is in elementary education, but I was taught that these were just the
things you did. I had to go above any beyond all of these tips to truly be a great teacher. Always strive to be
better than the minimum.

Reply

+3

Dr Ramanand Yadav· 145 weeks ago

A great teacher is an accepted personality to the learner. Personally, I believe that every accepted teacher
is a self made person, understand the learners more, devote significant quality time on self learning and
imparts the relevant learning to make it the part of the learners culture.

Reply

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