What makes a "star" teacher?

       A lot of my friends have majored in subjects like English or History. Now that we are approaching the end of our college careers, we are starting to panic a bit about the next step. Will we get jobs? Are we going to have to live with our parents for the rest of our lives? What are we going to do with ourselves? Despite the anxiety, we all manage to meet up several times throughout the year to talk about the future. However, my friends have been saying things that make me a little upset. When I ask my friends who majored only in English about their future career plans, they often say, "I don't know. Maybe I'll be a teacher. That seems easy enough, right?" Not only does that statement completely invalidate everything that I have been working toward for the past four years, but they could not be further from the truth.

       Teaching is not an easy job. Not only does a teacher need to know his or her subject area, but how to manage the students and design lessons to be both enriching and engaging. I have observed a lot of teachers over the past few years, and I have seen things that I want to emulate and things that I want to run away from. However, I know that to be a star teacher, a person must have a passion for working with children. Teachers seem to speak another language; they know how to be professional and get their point across while simultaneously communicating with the students on their level. One thing that I know a good teacher must be able to do is understand the students and where they are coming from. Not every student will sit quietly and read The Canterbury Tales. However, a good teacher is able to break through the students' confusions, frustrations, and, frankly, laziness in order to help them understand the material.

       However, a teacher cannot be effective if he or she is not passionate about his or her subject area. Star teachers are a model for their students. Good teachers need to be excited about their subject areas, even if they have been teaching for fifty years. I believe that moods are contagious. A good teacher is able to translate the love of reading, writing, and learning into a way that is accessible to the students. Even if I have to teach a book that I absolutely despise, I will make it seem like it is the best thing I've ever read. A good teacher not only enjoys working with children, but loves his or her subject area enough taht it inspires the students to want to love it, too.