Teach English in Miaotou Zhen - Xiaogan Shi

Teaching offers the chance to change other people's lives permanently for the better. As a teacher, you can help develop someone's subject of knowledge and/or their mind and personality. Teachers are instruments that ignite powerful thoughts in students, helping them unleash their true potential. In addition to being knowledgeable in their area of expertise and having the ability to plan and execute lesson plans, to be an effective and successful teacher you need to possess some personal emulateable skills. To bring a long-term impacts in the lives of your students, it's important to have the following qualities;- COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION SKILLS. A teacher needs to have good inter-personal skills along with effective speaking and strong presentation skills. Many inter-personal skills are centered around communication such as listening, questioning and understanding body language. They also include skills and attributes related to decision making, problem solving, emotional intelligence or being able to understand and manage your own and others emotions. Teachers with good communication and collaboration skills create a positive learning environment that help students feel at ease, understand what is expected of them and build their confidence in learning by inspiring them to try without fear. Also responding to students needs and getting them involved during a class lesson sets them up for success. SELF-DISCIPLINE. Having self-discipline means that you as a teacher are self-driven and you have the will-power and control to not being affected by students' misbehaviors instead you are able to manage and guide them. You are firm and fair with your discipline techniques. For an effective classroom management, your discipline ensures that positive behavior is encouraged in the classroom. Also your relationship with the students will determine the levels of discipline in the classroom. A disciplined teacher is respectful, responsible and accountable. CREATIVE. Teachers can be creative in many ways especially when using the Engage-Study-Activate approach in EFL learning. They have the ability to think beyond their noses, use available resources to create interesting lessons and fun activities and come up with creative ways to handle discipline issues in the classroom. PATIENCE. This quality helps teachers to be calm and settle down during tough times in the course of their careers.It also enables teachers to handle students from different backgrounds and with different levels of understanding or grasping a concept especially with students who have individualized education plan (IEP). CONFIDENCE. This trait helps teachers to look calm and professional even when tired or stressed out. Positive thinking, practice, training, knowledge and talking to other people are useful ways to help improve or boost confidence levels. Confidence comes from feelings of well-being, acceptance of your body and mind (high self-esteem) and belief in your own abilities, skills and experiences to deliver. SELF-MOTIVATED. Motivation is what drives us to achieve our goals. When you are self-motivated in your work, you are able to motivate others. For you to motivate your students, you maybe required to encourage and/or criticize them at different stages of learning. Be flexible and able to keep your students positive, enthusiastic and hard-working even at the toughest times. Also develop students' engagement skills to keep them motivated. Always, your attitude towards each student will determine their altitude in terms of behavior and growth. ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS. This quality involves time management and self-motivation. Good organizational skills leads to increased productivity and opportunities thus reduced procrastination and stress. Planning ahead of time allows teachers to be more confident in what they teach each time they go to class. Also this quality helps them understand the innate abilities of each student hence enabling them develop effective lesson plans and match their teaching pace to ensure every student benefits from the lesson. CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS. As a teacher, you should be able to deal with most of the misunderstandings among students on your own. Assertiveness being one of the important and useful skill of handling conflicts, you need to be able to express your views clearly and firmly without aggression. Always be in tandem with the school's discipline guidelines. In addition to the above traits, a teacher should always be able to adapt, have self-awareness and have a great love for their job. In conclusion, for a teacher to be effective and successful in their career; he/she should be able to motivate and support students so that they are well equipped to handle any life challenges either academically or otherwise. With all of the above discussed skills in place, a teacher with the right skills inspires and influences the entire life of a student.