Question on Page 81

What Makes a good teacher? And who has been your favorite teacher and why?

I think that there are many different qualities in a "good" teacher. First of all, the teacher must actually want to be there. This is because it is obvious when a teacher just views going to class as a job instead of as something he or she enjoys. The next thing is the teacher must be able to explain things in more than one way because all students learn differently. Some learn by reading, others learn by writing, and others learn by listening. Also every good teacher must be a good listener. Another thing they must do is know that sometimes it is okay to not be serious and to just make jokes. This makes the class a little more fun and makes students actually enjoy being there. However, a good teacher knows the appropriate times for this and knows that they need to be serious too. Lastly, a good teacher does not pick favorites. They treat everyone the same.

My favorite teacher was my fifth grade teacher. This is because she put so much energy into teaching the class. She even organized trips for us on things that we were learning in order to increase what we got out of the lesson. In a way she made learning fun. However, at the time I did not like her because I felt she gave us too much work, but now I see why she did and I know that all the work she made us do was worth it because it benefitted all of us in the future. My fifth grade teacher was patient and would never give up on a student. She would sit there with anyone who needed help until they completely understood what was going on. My teacher even stayed after class with many people to help them if they needed it. She was a very nice lady and I really learned a lot from her.