How To Become The Teacher You Wish You Had

Have you ever asked your students what their ideal teacher would be like? The answers are always similar from primary school to college: fairly strict, caring, challenging, and fun.

The recipe is simple, right? Then why aren’t you the teacher they wish they had yet?

Because their recipe is not yours, your little je ne sais quoi needs to be included. You may take their recipe as a guideline, but it is time for you to start baking your ideal teacher, and for that, you must do 2 things.

Here is how to become the teacher you wish you had:

1- Define the teacher you don’t want to be.

Defining the teacher, you do not want to be is simple. For that, you must list all the characteristics you dislike in a teacher. Your experience as a student and trainee teacher gave you plenty of material. Some of the teachers you had were boring, monotonous, and unclear. They were rude, they lacked confidence, and they seemed bitter.
Do any of these characteristics apply to you?
If the answer is yes, it is time to work on yourself and if you need some tips, take a look at the following post: 3 rules to become a happier and better teacher.

2- List your favorite teachers and why you loved them

It is time to reflect on the teacher you want to become by highlighting the positive characteristics of your favorite teachers. Take a minute to remember who your best teachers were and why.

I made a list of my top 5 top teachers

Mr. Ducasse: the actor

teachers should be trained like actors. Teachers should perform, be performers. All great teachers are actors.

I often mentioned Mr. Ducasse on this blog because he taught me I had no attention disorder when the teacher was captivating.
His job was to teach the unraveling of WWII to a group of 35 seventeen-year-old students in an airless classroom after a two-hour PE lesson. He took up the challenge rather successfully. His secret was simple: like an actor, he narrated his lesson staring straight into our eyes while occupying the space; he whispered and spoke gravely; he held his fist up in the air and hit our tables to wake us up.

Characteristics: Uses his voice, walks through the entire classroom, looks into students’ eyes, uses body language.

Mrs. Stacy: the ladder builder

Teachers allow students to progress safely.

Mrs. Stacy was discreet; she’d enter the classroom, sit down, and open her briefcase without a word. Having failed most of my schooling, I was grateful to have her as my English teacher as she provided her students with reachable targets.

She had a peculiar way of grading our oral: she counted the number of times we’d raise our hand and speak. Right or wrong, participating equaled a tick. At the end of the term, the highest number of ticks would get an A. For someone who struggled with confidence, this allowed me to participate freely without fearing mistakes, and I received my very first A at age 17.

At the end of each lesson, she’d also hand out short personalized homework and give us a chance to redo it if needed.

Characteristics: Allows students to progress safely. Makes A accessible.

Mr. Bertrand: the elegant outsider

Teachers should be consistent and have self-respect. Teachers should be elegant. teachers should dress smartly.

The tall, blue-eyed, fifty-year-old literature teacher came daily with a neatly shaved head, a precisely trimmed beard, and a neatly ironed suit. He was elegant.

Why did that matter? Because he impressed us because his self-respect, discipline, and consistency inspired us.

Check this post if you want to find out how the way we dress affects us.

Characteristics: Consistency, self-respect, clean looking

Mr. Eve: the real Rafiki

Become an inspiring teacher like Rafiki. Become a passionate teacher, a challenging teacher and an entertaining teacher.

In August 2006, I went to an open day at uni. I wanted to enroll in a geography class, but a friend asked me to attend the history degree introduction, so I did. I sat in a 400-seat amphitheater. The lecturer was there, silently reading his notes. He was tall and thin and wore heavy and oversized glasses he had to replace on top of his nose every couple of seconds.

At exactly 1:30 pm, he spoke, and 400 potential new students turned silent, baffled by his energy, charisma, and passion. Mr. Eve reminded me of a cartoon character: Rafiki, in the Lion King. A wise but eccentric character who lives like a hermit and grants access to the next level. He was a colorful character with a peculiar sense of humor.

Characteristics: Passionate, challenging, entertaining.

These were my 4 memorable teachers, but I would like to add Mr. Keating from the movie Dead Poets Society.

Mr. Keating: the captain.

Become the ideal teacher like Mr. Keating: unorthodox teacher, charismatic teacher, and caring teacher. He encourages mistakes and leads by example.

In the movie Dead Poets Society, the unorthodox Mr. Keating is not a simple lecturer; he takes his students out of their comfort zone, makes them cooperate, and he made them bond.

Mr. Keating taught beyond his subject. He did not teach literature; he taught life and encouraged young boys to make their lives extraordinary. Whether or not they agree with his method, his students got the chance to break the monotonous learning routine, not with a different subject, but through a different voice.

We all remember the iconic scene where he stands on his desk to encourage his students to look at the world from a different perspective. It is at that very moment that Keating becomes the captain. In a traditional school, he took risks, and his dangerous physical metaphor triggered the curiosity and interest of his students.

He empowered his students

Keating also connected with his students by listening to them and by giving importance to what they felt. When he covered a student’s eyes and let him express his thoughts, he gave more value to these improvised verses than to classic poetry. He encouraged his students to find their voices. Youngsters have dreams and have yet to be disillusioned. They are idealistic and romantic, and Keating does not break their aspirations with rationalism. Instead, he nurtures their dreams. Someone is finally telling them: yes, it is possible.

Characteristics: charismatic, unorthodox, risk-taking, cares, gives opportunities to create, encourages mistakes, leads by example.

Takeaways:

No need to reinvent the wheel. The recipe to becoming a better teacher is simple: remember the characteristics of your favorite teachers and become the teacher you wish you’d had.
You will, of course, not make all these changes in one day, but make a list and read it every day. These characteristics will progressively blend into your style, and you will eventually have an epiphany when you realize that you are becoming the teacher you wish you’d had.