Reply #92: good teachers like teaching and they like their students.

[Mr Generic Other]

it helps if they have a broad range of interests and knowledge and possess the ability to engage students in developing a variety of skills and interests. but beyond that a good teacher is hard to define.
almost no one can reach everyone and one teacher will reach certain students while other teachers connect with another bunch of kids.
any teacher can appear lax or unorganized at any given moment or even for a day but most often they will provide a safe and stimulating environment for students to master the skills appropriate for the curriculum.
it is much easier, as it is for any person or group, to define teachers by what we believe they are not. such as abusive, cruel, or spiteful. clearly no one desires these qualities in a teacher. and there are other equally obvious traits one would not want in a teacher but beyond that good teachers come in all varieties. these good teachers can be found in every sort of classroom around america but they are also found in homes, churches, and on playgrounds.
every child needs several of these types in their lives (best if it is the entire childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood)but sadly not every child is this lucky.
there have been many studies that link a students poor school performance to poverty or home-life disruption. currently 50% of america's school children live at or below the federal poverty level. a recent study suggests that one out of every fifty school children spends some of their school age years homeless. many children experience situations much worse than poverty.
it is tough to engage a student in academic pursuits when they are worried about surviving.
combine this with 40 years of funding neglect, bad-mouthing by the media and a variety of reform mandates designed to undermine the integrity of schools and it is no wonder so many of our students are not doing well.
the correlation between family economy and school success is well established. while it is true that with hard work and the right student these handicaps can be overcome we have been blaming teachers for what is the fault of economic policy makers.
teachers are not cause of poor school performance. our culture does not value education and very few are truly educated. even most "highly educated" specialists only know a lot about a little. specialist is another term for fragmented. and that is our highest expectation.