How Good Teachers Can Become Great Teachers

Most people that enter the teaching profession do so because they’re passionate about learning. And once they become a teacher, they often quickly learn that there’s a reason why it usually scores so highly on job satisfaction forms. However, while teachers are, of course, ready to teach once they’ve completed their qualifications, it’s not as if they know everything about teaching. When they first enter the classroom, they’ll have the tools they need to become a good teacher. But what if you want to become a great teacher? That’ll take some additional work. In this blog, we’ll look at some tried and tested tips that’ll push you to become the best teacher that you can be.

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Focus On Yourself

Teachers are highly dedicated to their profession and their students. However, sometimes it’s important to look at how you’re channeling that dedication. Sometimes, you can get lost in your quest to do the best you can at your work, and you fail to look after what should be top of your priorities list: yourself. While it might seem selfish to focus on yourself, there are a lot of benefits that come from doing so — not only for you but your students too. A teacher that feels well within themselves will be in a much better position to bring their A-game compared with a teacher that is overly stressed and not physically/mentally well.

Understand Student’s Backgrounds

The best teachers bring their own life experience to their job. However, that’s only part of the equation. After all, teachers are only one half of the teaching dynamic: the other half is the students. And while there will be some students that come from a similar background/life experience as you do, that’s unlikely to be the case across the board. As such, it’s important to take the time to not only know your student’s academic ability but also where they’re coming from. This will help to enhance your understanding of each pupil, which will ultimately allow you to serve them better. 

Carry on Learning

As we said earlier: you’ll be able to teach well once you’ve gotten your teaching qualification. However, you won’t know everything. You can enhance your teaching abilities by diving deeper and continuing to learn. There are plenty of ways to learn more! You could sign up for a course, or read what teaching experts, such as Dr. Gerard Jellig, have to say. The more you know about teaching, the better you’ll be able to do your job, after all. 

Understand Your Weak Points

While you’ll have many attributes and qualities that make you a good teacher, it’s not as if you’ll be perfect. No-one is, after all! As such, why not look at performing a bit of self-analysis, and discover what your strengths and weaknesses are? You could also ask for feedback from colleagues and students, too, if you don’t know to analyze yourself. Once you’ve identified your weak points, you’ll be able to work on eliminating them or at least reducing their impact.