I have spoken with about a dozen teachers and school administrators. I recently observed five high school classes. I've read articles on the web. From all these interactions and from my own experiences as a student, I now present the profile of the perfect teacher.The perfect (secondary school) teacher
- Has neverending patience.
- Has skin as thick as a rhino's.
- Can care about and connect with 20 to 25 students per class, 5 to 7 classes.
- Can understand and respect those 100 to 175 individuals even if they are, at best, inscrutable, at worst, menacing.
- Can develop and tailor a lesson plan on the same subject for different level classes, from AP / Honors to remedial.
- Has the ability to explain the same point in different ways to students with different abilities, either individually or in a group setting.
- Knows how to keep a diverse class engaged -- challenging the brightest and brightening the challenged.
- Can also serve as mentor, counselor, peacemaker, referee, negotiator, performer, advocate, disciplinarian. Simultaneously.
- And perhaps most important of all... the perfect teacher understands and accepts the times they will not be perfect. They can live with that. Perhaps learn from it. And move on. Because each day, each class, is a new opportunity to reach out to someone and make a difference in their life.
At this point in my career, in my life, I will give a shot at being a "perfect" teacher...
I love your list! It's very hard to be the perfect teacher, but it's the most fulfilling, frustrating, fabulous, fraught with doubt, fun thing you'll ever do!
ReplyDeleteRemember also to cultivate the notion that you canNOT be shocked - but you can be offended. Very few kids choose to offend, but many love to shock (*:
A teacher I respect a lot once said something like, "I don't want to be their friend, I want to be the loving wall they fling themselves against."