1. Sense of Humor
A sense of humor can help you become a successful teacher. Your sense of humor can relieve tense classroom situations before they become disruptions. A sense of humor will also make class more enjoyable for your students and possibly make students look forward to attending and paying attention. Most importantly, a sense of humor will allow you to see the joy in life and make you a happier person as you progress through this sometimes stressful career.
Humor in the classroom is one of the most effective tools you have in your teaching arsenal. It can diffuse tense situations. It can make you appear more human to your students. Even if your jokes fall flat, students will still appreciate your attempt. With that said, sarcasm is an area of humor that can really create more problems. Many students will not understand that your sarcastic remarks are only meant in jest. It is probably best not to use sarcasm at all, but if you do be very cautious.
2. A Positive Attitutude
A positive attitude is a great asset in life. You will be thrown many curve balls in life and especially in the teaching profession. A positive attitude will help you cope with these in the best way. For example, you may find out the first day of school that you are teaching Algebra 2 instead of Algebra 1. This would not be an ideal situation, but a teacher with the right attitude would try to focus on getting through the first day without negatively impacting the students.
3. High Expectations
An effective teacher must have high expectations. You should strive to raise the bar for your students. If you expect less effort you will receive less effort. You should work on an attitude that says that you know students can achieve to your level of expectations, thereby giving them a sense of confidence too. This is not to say that you should create unrealistic expectations. However, your expectations will be one of the key factors in helping students learn and achieve.
4. Consistency
In order to create a positive learning environment your students should know what to expect from you each day. You need to be consistent. This will create a safe learning environment for the students and they will be more likely to succeed. It is amazing that students can adapt to teachers throughout the day that range from strict to easy. However, they will dislike an environment in which the rules are constantly changing.
One important teaching strategy is that you be consistent. Consistency in your actions is one of the steps towards creating a safe learning environment for the students and they will be more likely to succeed. When the rules change constantly, students will react poorly. You lose your credibility and students have a tendency to tune out or act out.
5. Fairness
Many people confuse fairness and consistency. A consistent teacher is the same person from day to day. A fair teacher treats students equally in the same situation. For example, students complain of unfairness when teachers treat one gender or group of students differently. It would be terribly unfair to go easier on the football players in a class than on the cheerleaders. Students pick up on this so quickly, so be careful of being labelled unfair.
Students know what is and what is not fair. It is important that you act fairly for all students if you expect to be respected. If you do not treat all students equitably, you will be labeled as unfair. When this happens students will not be as willing to follow your rules. Make sure that if your best student does something wrong, they too get punished for it. In other words, don't play favorites.
6. Flexibility
One of the tenets of teaching should be that everything is in a constant state of change. Interruptions and disruptions are the norm and very few days are 'typical'. Therefore, a flexible attitude is important not only for your stress level but also for your students who expect you to be in charge and take control of any situation.
Melissa Kelly
712educators.about.com
