INTRODUCTION

Why did you choose teaching profession? 

Are you truly passionate about teaching?

Are you happy with your teaching job?

These questions would always have in your mind. 

Thus, any teacher whose name can be recalled and remembered ten or twenty or fifty years later with admiration could be described as both memorable and effective teacher. 

Below are some essential criteria that can help you to answer the above questions. Do you belong or fulfill these criteria below? If yes, then you are an effective teacher.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE TEACHER

There are 12 criteria to enabling you as an effective teacher. They are:

1. Prepared

The most effective teachers come to class each day ready to teach. 

• It is easy to learn in their classes because they are always ready to teach for the day.
• Instructional time is the most important to them. They do not want to waste the instructional time. They start class on time.

2. Positive

The most effective teachers have optimistic attitudes about teaching and their students. They always: 

• Look at the positive side of every situation.
• Always communicate with students about their progress.
• Always give praise and recognition.
• Always helps students to act positively towards one another.

3. Hold high expectations

Effective teachers do not set limits on their students and believe that everyone can be successful. They are able to:

• hold the highest standards
• Consistently challenge their students to do their best.
• Always build students’ confidence and teach them to believe in themselves.

An effective teacher is resourceful, innovative and inventive in how they teach their classes. They always:

• Wear a clown suit if the class reaches its academic goal.
• Agree to participate in the school talent show especially during Teachers’ Day Celebrations.
• Use technology effectively in the classroom.

5. Fair

 The most effective teachers handle students and grading fairly. They: 

• Allow all students to have equal opportunities and privileges.
• Provide clear requirements.
• Recognise that ‘fair’ means giving every student an opportunity to excel.
• Understand that not all students learn at the same rate and in the same way.

6. Display a Personal Touch

The most effective teachers are approachable. They always: 

• Connect with students personally.
• Take a personal interest in students and find out as much as possible about them.
• Visit the students’ world. For example, they sit with them in the cafeteria or canteen, attend sports events, plays and join other events outside normal school hours.

7. Cultivate a Sense of Belonging

The most effective teachers have a way of making students feel welcome and comfortable in their classrooms. How do they know that they are always interested by their students? The answers are given by the students themselves. Students would repeatedly mentioned that they felt as though they belonged in classrooms taught by effective teachers. They also knew their teacher love teaching.

8. Compassionate 

The most effective teachers are concerned about students’ personal problems and can relate to them. Numerous stories established how the sensitivity and compassion of caring teachers affected them in profound and lasting ways. 

9. Have a Sense of Humor 

The most effective teachers do not take everything seriously and make learning fun. They always:

• Use humour to break the in difficult situations.
• Bring humour into everyday classroom.
• Laugh with the class but never at the expense of any particular student.

10. Respect Students

The most effective teachers do not embarrass students. Teachers who give the highest respect get the highest respect. They: 

• Respect students’ privacy when returning test papers or workbooks as well as exercise books.
• Speaks to students in private concerning grades that they obtained or conduct.
• Avoid situations that unnecessarily embarrass students.

11. Forgiving 

The most effective teachers do not hold grudges. They: 

• Forgive their students.
• Start each day with a clean slate.
• Understand that disruptive or misbehavior can quickly turn a teacher against a student, but refusing to give up on difficult students can produce success.

12. Admit Mistakes

The most effective teachers are quick to admit mistakes when they are being wrong. They: 

• Apologise to mistakenly accused students.
• Make adjustments when students point out errors and oversights.

HOW TO IMPROVE TEACHER PERFORMANCE

There are many individual and structural changes that can proof to improve teachers’ performance. One of them is to consistently seek feedbacks from the students. Students are the valid tool who can tell what is going wrong or right in the classroom.

STUDENT FEEDBACK

• Classroom Assessments are a way to get feedback on your students’ learning, both specifically after an assignment or class period and generally as the year progresses. The assessment results indicate the strengths and weaknesses of your teaching and learning. Examples include: 

• Continuous Classroom-based Assessments
• Formative Tests
• Summative Tests
• Teachers may also ask students to write down their views about what your students miss during their learning and what you care about your students’ learning. The feedbacks will help teachers to connect to students to improve your teaching and learning.
• Public Examination example, Sijil Pendidikan Malaysia (SPM)

CONSISTENT GROWTH

Another way to improve teacher effectiveness on an individual level is to seek consistent growth, year by year and day by day. In this way, teachers can grow by practicing critical reflection, which can be defined as to sustain and identify intentional process and checking the accuracy and validity of teachers’ teaching assumptions mainly on pedagogy. The teaching assumptions which include self-knowledge allow teachers to grow and become more flexible as experience gained rather than become more rigid.

Finally, an important practice of effective teachers is to continually assess and reassess the educational tools that we use. Rubrics, in particular, are an important place to refine; for more on the power of effective rubrics and how to construct them, click here.

CONCLUSION

There is always something positive to be found in every situation. It is the teachers themselves to find it. All this begins during the first day of school. Teachers, keep your heads up, and teach your students happily for the love of education!

Refereces:

1. 11 Habits of an Effective Teacher https://www.edutopia.org>discussion>11-habits-effec..