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Whether it is English or any other discipline, teaching could be an exciting and very fulfilling profession. Any English teacher who is worth their salt would certainly appreciate positive feedback from the students, their parents and his/her employer. However, to achieve such results, the teacher must avoid being passive. He/she should always be active, observant, and must constantly be learning in order to stay on top of the game. There are certain qualities that make a good English teacher. If a teacher would know them and continuously work on improving on them, such a teacher will not only become great but legendary. For the purpose of this summative task, I have narrowed down these qualities to six points as follows: 1) He/she must be patient, have a deep knowledge and passion for the English language: Having to deal with students from diverse backgrounds, the teacher must be patient as he/she endeavours to bring out the best in them. He/she must love and have passion for the English language. Given the fact that passion is infectious, he/she should be able to instil in his/her students the same passion and desire to learn more. Passion will lead him/her to be innovative, and be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of his/her students, and explore the most appropriate methods of skill transfer. 2) He/she must be a relationship builder: A good English teacher is not only a man/woman of the head (having knowledge of the subject matter), but a man/woman of the heart as well. He should be deeply concerned, not only about his/her job, but above all, for those he/she teaches. His/her concern and care for his/her students should inspire him/her to reach out, to communicate more, ask, learn and improve. By so doing, the teacher creates a favourable learning environment where there is a strong student-teacher bond. This in turn facilitates the exchange of information between the teacher and students. 3) He/she must be a great communicator: Knowledge is very important when it comes to teaching English. You need to have adequate knowledge of the subject matter. Nevertheless, beyond mastering the subject matter, a good English teacher needs to be able to convey the knowledge to his/her students. For him/her to do this with good results, he/she must be an effective communicator, both verbally and non-verbally. As a good communicator, he/she should be able to paraphrase, illustrate, or use other appropriate means to make a point understood. As a good teacher, he/she should be able to detect when even a single student has not understood, and therefore endeavour to communicate individually if need be. 4) He/she should be a very keen listener: A good English teacher should be able to listen to his/her learners attentively and patiently. That's what communication is basically all about; speaking and listening. It's by listening to his/her students that a good teacher will use what he/she hears to improve himself/herself and better relate with his/her students. 5) He/she should be friendly and approachable: It's rather regrettable that there are still some teachers who are mean, arrogant, and unapproachable. This repels students who may need your input in order to enrich their learning experience. Therefore, a good English teacher should be friendly, approachable, open and welcoming. Let the students know that they can count on you and that you are accessible all the time. 6) He/she should be a highly organized person: Being organized entails preparation. A good English teacher should always have a clear plan of how to teach his/her lessons. He/she spends adequate time preparing, learning more about the subject matter and how to deliver it to the students in an interesting and easy-to-learn manner. He/she should always have excellent lesson plans, and generally be a meticulous and well organized individual. In addition, he/she is an eternal learner, attending workshops/seminars in order to improve himself/herself. Conclusively, it is said that practice makes perfect. As an athlete practises everyday to sharpen his/her skills, it is equally the duty of an English teacher to constantly work on improving the above skills. Do not settle for anything less. Your students deserve the very best of you..
