Successful Teachers – 6 Traits of Successful Teachers

What We Can Learn From Successful Teachers:

1. Successful teachers hold high expectations:

 The most effective teachers expect great accomplishments from their  students, and they don’t accept anything less. In education, expectations form a  self-fulfilling prophecy. When teachers believe each and every student can soar  beyond any imagined limits, the children will sense that confidence and work  with the teacher to make it happen.

2. They think creatively:

 The best teachers think outside the box, outside the classroom, and outside  the norm. They leap outside of the classroom walls and take their students with  them! As much as possible, top teachers try to make classroom experiences  exciting and memorable for the students. They seek ways to give their students a  real world application for knowledge, taking learning to the next action-packed  level. Think tactile, unexpected, movement-oriented, and a little bit crazy…  then you’ll be on the right track.

3. Top teachers are versatile and sensitive:

 The best teachers live outside of their own needs and remain sensitive to  the needs of others, including students, parents, colleagues, and the community.  It’s challenging because each individual needs something different, but the most  successful teachers are a special breed who play a multitude of different roles  in a given day with fluidity and grace, while remaining true to  themselves.

4. They are curious, confident, and evolving:

We’re all familiar with the stagnant, cynical, low-energy teachers who seem  to be biding their time until retirement and watching the clock even more  intently than their students. That’s what NOT to do.  

In contrast, the teachers I most admire renew their energy by learning new  ideas from younger teachers, and they aren’t threatened by new ways of doing  things on campus. They have strong core principles, but somehow still evolve  with changing times. They embrace new technologies and confidently move forward  into the future.

5. They are imperfectly human:

The most effective educators bring their entire selves to the job. They  celebrate student successes, show compassion for struggling parents, tell  stories from their own lives, laugh at their mistakes, share their unique  quirks, and aren’t afraid to be imperfectly human in front of their students.  

6. Successful teachers emphasize the fun in learning and in  life:

 The teachers I admire most create lighthearted fun out of serious learning.  They aren’t afraid to be silly because they can snap the students back into  attention at will – with just a stern look or a change in tone of voice.

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