I asked the few 16 to 18 year old students here today in my Communications 11 and 12 (non-academic English) class what they appreciate about their teachers. We had a little fun rephrasing things into positive statements. 🙂
- Patrick appreciates when teachers trust him
- Katelynn appreciate when teachers put themselves in students’ shoes
- Jessie appreciates the time teachers take to help him understand
- Nich appreciates when teachers are nice
- Joel appreciates when teachers give him food
- Celeste appreciates when teachers don’t give her homework
- Ryan appreciates when teachers are nice, and when they’re helpful to students
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Many students were away today on field trips or work experience, so it was a small class!
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Personally, I appreciated when my teachers were enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their subject, beyond the curriculum.
What do/did you appreciate most in your teachers?
Shawn L. Bird 
as a teacher myself, I say thank you:-). My students know im human. I teach them life lessons they can take with them and use throughout their life. We laugh together and we learn together. I love my job!
Yes. My high school students are learning about hot flashes (aka ‘my personal, mobile sauna’) at the moment. Some are amused, some are bemused, and the odd one is sweetly sympathetic.
I appreciate, when teachers are able to make me understand complicated topic with simple logic.
Me, too! Though when I understand simple logic, I’m sure I’m missing something. That’s definitely a gift.
caring
~
kindness
A principal once told me, “They don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
Knowledgeable, great storytelling, determined, and legible handwriting 🙂
I get compliments on my handwriting, so I know they appreciate that, though no one mentioned it today.
I appreciate teachers that bother to ask 🙂
Asking is a valuable skill! I wish my students would do more of it! lol oh, and listening afterwards instead of checking their phones. 😉
Oh yes…listening is the essential part! We should all try to listen…ahh, checking their phone?
I had enthusiastic teachers for History and English. Guess what my two favourite things are now I’m the history they teach about. Enthusiasm goes a long way in teaching because it fires the same in the pupils.
I had a phenomenal history teacher: Dave Swanzey. I named the character Mr. Swan after him. 🙂
The best teachers are those willing to learn from their students as well as teach them…
I appreciate my teacher when she is not late and always find ways to make us understand the lesson whether it’s hard or easy lesson…
my academic experiences were somewhat limited I left school at age 15 almost illiterate, unable to read and write. The only thing my teachers seemed concerned with is getting me out of their class. I even ended up in a class one year for mentally disadvantaged kids…I was not mentally retarded, or particularly developmentally challenged and did not belong in this category of student. Looking back I have come to determine that teachers did not want to invest one on one time to find a way to reach me. Most of my teachers therefore where those people that had the time and patience to explain things to me in a way I could understand them. Most of them were geriatric and people I encountered through my work and volunteer service with the elderly and surprisingly enough also from homeless alcoholics…These were my teachers because the world of academia failed me. My experience is every child (person really) learns differently so approach and method of teaching should not be a generic model but an individual one. I don’t blame teachers for my failings with the system. Teachers are put in a difficult circumstance of having class sizes far to great to deal with their students on an individual level. Its not the teachers, its the system, its society in general. So in answer to the question what do I appreciate in a teacher…the time and patience to find the bridge that leads to understanding with each individual student.
Class size is a crucial component for student success. That’s why for decades teachers in BC have foregone salary increases in lieu of class size limitations (our provincial Liberal party of course swept a hand, broke all our contracts and took off the size caps). Small classes and tuning into each student’s needs is the challenge. Where were you in school?
Toronto Ontario in the early eighties…in a relatively socio economical underprivileged neighbourhood class size on average was 35 students per teacher…
Eek. We’re capped at 30, with provisions for special needs that lower that number. (Special needs meaning behaviour challenges, learning challenges, health challenges). 35 kids with issues would be nearly impossible.
as I said Teachers are not to blame…it is the system…in my mind the ideal class size would be no more than 10 students 5 in the case of special needs…but I don’t think I was special needs I think I was labeled special needs and once so labeled I was passed over… if I were developmentally disabled as the system claimed how could I have, as an adult, managed businesses (15 years management) Been the chief steward of a facility in a unionized multi- national for five years, and was the WSIB rep (paralegal representing injured workers) for my local and in my military service finished in the top percentile for Canada ..also while I have not mastered the English language I have become proficient…though cursory writing is a skill I do not have…I print and in uppercase at that, mostly for legibility…
Special needs should mean the individual needs additional attention to achieve success, not that they can’t achieve success and should be ignored. When the class is too small, you miss some of the diversity of dialogue, so personally, I like 15-20. I’m glad you were able to achieve so much success, however you managed to get there!
I appreciated the teachers that made sure I knew the material, that did not cut me any slack, that made sure my parents knew about my progress, that protected me against bullies, that dressed professionally, took time to explain life, and taught me God’s love. Public school is vastly different now in the U.S. No more talks of God, cameras, security doors, and fences everywhere, lower standards, students given grades, teachers dressed unprofessionally, gangs, tests every month, and a system trying to keep it that way. This is not representative of all schools. This description is for the schools with no parent involvement. When I was in school 17 out of 20 kids in class had a nuclear family at home (I.E. Mom and Dad). Today, the ratio is more like 3 out of 20 in class. This contributes to dysfunction, poverty, and the overall decline.