What makes a great teacher? Is it their ability to make a boring subject into a super interesting one? Is it their relatability?

In order to make a classroom more fun to be in and makes students want to actually learn, let’s explore some perspectives on the qualities of a great teacher. 

Teacher Perspective

Mrs. Thielges is a teacher at South who teaches classes centered around business education. This year is her 10th year teaching. 

She says that a great teacher is “energetic (after coffee of course!) approachable, understanding, holds students to high standards, creative, patient and flexible.” 

With her answers, one can tell that her strategy is student focused. “I strive to make my classroom feel warm and welcoming, where we laugh and learn together,” she said. “I believe that I learn as much from the students as they do from me.” 

She continues, “I believe it is my job to teach students about life as well as business. To teach the hard lessons, hold boundaries, and send students out into the world feeling capable and confident in their abilities.”

Student Perspective

What about some student perspectives?

Amanda Oka, a senior at South has some answers. For Oka, a great teacher entails confidence, passion and patience. 

Other qualities in a teacher she looks forward to is “someone who can joke but be serious when it’s time to be serious.”

She then added, “Teachers who will take time to help you and not just tell you to reread the notes and look in the book because there’s academic memory but actually learning and comprehending it is different.” 

Selma Cipranic, also a senior at South, stressed empathy and understanding as an important quality. 

She explained in more detail that teachers should be more understanding that not all students have great home lives outside of school. Selma summed it up as “just overall caring about every student’s wellbeing.”