Qualities of a good teacher...

Hat tip to Vicki Davis who sent this out through Diigo:

Attention, Gates: Here's What Makes a Great Teacher

What has really bugged me,

...besides the people who think we make too much, we do a lousy job etc. (really, no matter what we do they would complain - other forces besides teachers are affecting what they complain about.)...

is how corporate, political, non-teachers think what is the best way to teach. How has our profession lost any voice in what is best? It is truly disturbing. Kids are not one size fits all and neither is teaching. Even though I do a fairly decent job of getting kids to really think, problem solve, and get to the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy, I balance it out with other activities that speak to different kinds of students.

This article spoke to me as I felt the way he did:

1. that I was not a great teacher my first few years (though the kids told me otherwise, that was the impression I had from the administration),
   
2. that as time has gone by I have enjoyed teaching more but hated school even more
3. that there are many great ways to teach and not just one is best
4. that the 10 qualities of the best teachers are qualities we do not want to talk about - they aren't quantified and many of them make people nervous.

These 10 qualities are:

(1) has a sense of humor; (2) is intuitive; (3) knows the subject matter; (4) listens well; (5) is articulate; (6) has an obsessive/compulsive side; (7) can be subversive; (8) is arrogant enough to be fearless; (9) has a performer’s instincts; (10) is a real taskmaster.

Ask any master retired teacher and they will tell you the same thing.