Authenticity In A Teacher

Authenticity is an important part of being a teacher.  I believe that students will be much more inclined to pay attention and work harder in a class if the teacher is authentic.  To me, a teacher who is authentic is a teacher that is animate about what he/she is teaching, and tries to show this love of a subject to his students.  I feel that if the teacher is positive and looks interested in what he/she is teaching, the students will as well.  On the flip side, a teacher who is not authentic will only teach what is necessary and one who does not look like they care about what they are trying to teach the students.  I feel that if the teacher isn't showing that they really love what they are teaching, there is no hope for the students to feel animate about that subject.

Compassion

Teachers can be just teachers and have the students learn what they are teaching on the board, but the best teachers are the ones that know their students personally and show compassion towards their work and their students.  One of the teachers that would be compassionate towards her students was my band director in high school.  Not only would she conduct regular band rehearsals to learn the music, but she would talk to us about other general life lessons and how to be successful in the things that we do.  She would talk to us about relationships, school work, and more of the issues that high school students might have.  Her door would  always be open to talk if a student needed to.  Teachers need to show compassion towards their field of teaching and towards their students, because teachers need to be people that kids can look up to and that are successful at educating the youth.

Respect

Choir in high school was the most annoying class of my day.  I love to sing and have sung throughout all of my schooling, but there was a problem with high school choir.  I felt like we didn't get very much done because we always had to wait for the students to be quiet.  It was as if the students had no respect for their instructors.  Another teacher would tell our class specifically that "I respect you, and I expect you to respect me as well".  But what I have noticed is that seems to be a difficult concept for high school students. Students must understand what respect means, and what it specifically means in the classroom.  For me, respect means that someone who is courteous towards me and what I am trying to say.  Respect in the classroom goes the same way.  It is when the students listen to the teacher while they teach and are engaged in what they are learning.  Respect is a big factor in the classroom.  If the students aren't respectful to the teacher, the teacher might wonder what the point of teaching their class is if the students aren't listening; if the students don't care, why should the teacher?  Respect needs to be established in the classroom.  The teacher needs to show that they respect and care for the students' learning, and will not stand for disrespect.  I've seen teachers yell at students, give them detentions, etc.  But that doesn't do anything to help the issues.  Teachers need to show that their classroom is a relaxed, but professional environment, and that the teachers are there to teach, and the students to learn.