Today, teaching activity can be considered as one of the most wonderful professions

in the world. However, in spite of the fact that any person can become a teacher, not
each person can be a good one. Nowadays people of this profession have a lot of
pressure and responsibilities. And only those can cope with these difficulties who are
dedicated have natural zeal. Being a great teacher is not just holding a degree in
teaching or equip students with the minimal information required in order to pass to
the next grade or achieve good grades, but it involves a great responsibility of
shaping the lives and moulding the habits and character of susceptible children.
Moreover, an effective teacher nurtures the talents and the skills in the pupils and
assists them to accomplish their goals. A great teacher is one a student remembers
and cherishes forever. In order to graduate an educated generation of future, which
will help us to improve and change the whole world, all people of this noble
profession should strive for what can be considered to be a "good teacher."

In the profession of teaching, a person should have some characteristics in order to

perform his or her role well. Nevertheless, what exactly are the qualities that make a
great teacher? What are the skills, talents, and features, and can they be taught or
learned? To those who have never taught, it is difficult to understand a multifaceted
skillset one needs to succeed in a lively and exacting classroom environment.

First of all, I would say that being a good teacher requires having the aspiration,
passion and driving in teaching. After all, it all depends on our desire. To my mind, a
great teacher should have the eagerness to make the lives of students better, the zeal
for achievement and the passion for teaching. In my opinion, these qualities enable a
teacher to enjoy doing his job as well as doing it effectively. As an example, I would
like to mention Erin Gruwell, she is a teacher, who left a lasting impression on me. I
found out about this woman from the movie "Freedom Writers". Her students were
considered unteachable due to their way of life full of poverty, gangs, and murders
which weren't unusual for them. For Gruwell, who had just begun her teaching career
and was looking for a perspective future, this class was an enormous obstacle she had
to overcome. However, despite all the people who didn't believe in her, she managed
to achieve something that no one else dared or even tried to do. This passionate and
tenacious woman used her belief in equal opportunities for all to help a group of
hopeless students learn to believe in themselves, rely on each other and work hard to
achieve their own success. Her dedication to this job led her to take on two other jobs
during her spare time in order to finance her students’ trips and new books for them.
Even though Erin could have left and avoided all problems, her willingness to help
her students was stronger and she managed to break the wall of hatred between and
Gruwell was able to work with them. Besides, Erin faced other obstacles on her way:
teachers and staff, all jealous of her success while working with the unpromising
students. No one would have imagined that English teacher would be able to connect
with those students on a deeper level, and to some extent free them from suffering.
Nevertheless, guiding them from danger to safety, despair to happiness, and
carelessness to success, Erin Gruwell changed the future of her students. Because of
her resolve and desire to support them, which shows her spirit and determination, we
can call Erin a hero.

Secondly, I would like to point out that making your lessons relevant to the lives of
the students is an important factor for establishing a more trusting and close
relationship with the class. Thus, if you want your students to remember your lessons,
it would be better to connect the information you provide with some moments of their
life. Moreover, you can use some of them as an example, describing this or that
situation: it would be more interesting for them to visit such lessons, but not those
boring ones where you just explain them the importance of studied science. Perhaps,
it may be better to try to come up with an example, how this knowledge can help
them in the future. The earlier mentioned Erin also used this in her teaching activity.
After having analyzed the situation in the classroom, she threw aside the old
curriculum set for English, and she set out a new method to teach her students. She
dedicated her class to learning about peace and tolerance. She brought out books such
as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, and connected this story to the dangerous
lives of her students showing that others, just like them, had faced the same
quandaries and pain. Just like Anne, the students knew the feeling of discrimination
and how it felt to be looked down upon. There were few places for these children to
go to be safe and few people they could count on, but after having read that book they
felt safe and no longer alone. Thus, this example shows us the utmost importance of
this approach.

Thirdly, I would like to highlight that good teacher sets high expectations on all of his
students and encourages everyone to always work at their best level. Great teachers
don’t set limits on the pupils. As well as they have high standards, they consistently
challenge students to do their best, and they are caring professionals who teach pupils
to believe in themselves. It is really stimulating to have a teacher who can maintain a
level of diculty high enough to challenge the students, but not so high as to
discourage them. What is more, studies show that this technique has a huge impact on
student achievement. Teacher may expect a lot from each pupil, but those
expectations are both challenging and realistic. However, this doesn't mean they hold
all students to the same high standard, but instead that they know what each student is
capable of individually and strive to help each one attain their personal best. For this
reason, I also want to mention Erin Gruwell, who, having used this method, was able
to educate successful people, graduated from College, although at first they were
branded as hopeless students.

Furthermore, from my point of view the teacher should be a friend to his students.
Since it's the teacher's duty to help students learn, they must be easy to approach.
Students may have questions that can't be answered if the teacher isn't friendly and
easy to talk to. For example, the crabby, terse or impudent teacher can't last long.
Moreover, if the students think of their professor as their enemy, they certainly won't
learn much. The best teachers are the most open, affable, and easy to approach. On
the other hand, one shouldn't forget to not go too far in being friendly. Students just
don't like when their teacher starts behaving like a student himself. Therefore, the
better option in this situation is to stay professional, help students with schoolwork,
listen to them, talk about their lives, but remember who you are. Even if you are a
young specialist, and you are almost of the same age with your students, there is no
need to use all those slang words even if you use them in your everyday life. The
students may find it impolite and unprofessional. As far as you understand, this is not
the best method to get a good reputation. Eventually, your students just will not take
you seriously.

Next, as far as I am concerned, the ability to create a sense of community and

belonging in the classroom plays an important role in building supportive and
conductive classroom setting. What is more, in addition to forming caring
relationships with each student, good teachers foster mutually respectful relationships
between the students. They seem to know how to set up guidelines and assign roles to
enlist every pupil's help and participation. Therefore, every student feels like they are
not only accepted by the group, but that their presence is a necessary part of the
classroom's ambiance. 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 integral part of the group.
Personally, I see this technique as a great method of integration.

To sum up, I wish to say that teaching is a really hard work. While it is a gift that
seems to come quite naturally for some people, others have to work overtime to
achieve great teacher status. On the contrary, some teachers never grow to be
anything better than mediocre. They do the bare minimum required and very little
more. The great teachers, however, work tirelessly to create a challenging, nurturing
environment for their students. Speaking about these different kinds of teachers,
William Arthur Ward mentions that: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher
explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” (William
Arthur Ward, 1968). Great teaching seems to have less to do with knowledge and
skills than with our attitude toward our students, our subject, and our work. Yet the
payoff is enormous — for both you and your students. And finally I would like to
add that a good teacher is someone who teaches not only with his mind, but also with
his heart.