Journal 6

In your opinion, what is the single most important characteristic of an effective teacher?

Journal 6

I believe that the single most important characteristic an effective teacher should have is the ability to create trust with his/her students.  This is very important for both the students and the teacher to be successful. Without trust it would be very hard for the teacher to make the students learn.  If you don’t have their trust they will not pay attention very well.  They will not trust that they know what is best for them and that they want them to succeed.  Once students understand that their teachers care about them, they will learn more and produce better scores.  When I was substitute teaching in Mineral Wells, I experienced just this.  Usually, substitutes do not do very well with students.  When teachers leave the students think that they can do whatever they want because they have a substitute.  I was substituting for a teacher on maternity leave so I was with the students for about six weeks.  At first the students were out of hand and would not listen to me but by the end of the first week I started to gain their trust.  I was then able to teach them the material that was left by their teacher.  Their scores on exams were pretty decent.  When their teacher came back she was surprised at how well the students were doing considering they had a substitute for six weeks.  The students had trusted me with their education and they greatly benefited from it.  I also felt satisfaction at how I gained their trust and was able to make them succeed.  Trust was the key in my success and I believe that every teacher should posses this characteristic for their success.