Reply #91: I agree with your answer.

[fed_up_mother]

My kids had many adequate, competent teachers, and I mean that in a very positive way. We can't all be in the top five percentile, and we shouldn't expect that of our kids' teachers, either. :) However, they also had excellent teachers, and those teachers were thought provoking, motivating, challenging, and creative, despite their personal styles. One thing you will notice is that those teachers are not only motivating to students, but they are also highly motivating to other teachers. As a matter of fact, if I had to list one quality of the excellent teacher, that would be it. And they don't have to be all sunshine and smiles, but they are generally "pleasant." Some teachers took a highly personal interest in my kids (I'm talking about high school, here), while others didn't and were a bit more aloof, but that didn't matter if they were outstanding teachers. Teachers don't have to be buddies with their students to be effective, imo.

Bad teachers = lazy, generally speaking. They may or may not know their subject matter. They may or may not teach effectively when they do try. They may or may not have been excellent teachers at one time. Doesn't matter, though. In general, the bad teachers are simply "lazy." We also had a couple of bad teachers who were - sad to say - having mental problems. Serious mental problems.

Overall, we've had good to excellent teachers with only a couple of exceptions. How other teachers react to the "bad" teachers can tell you a lot about those teachers, though. Teachers who defend bad teachers tend never to be in the top tier. After two decades in public school, I can't bet the farm on that one. :)