Efficacy

To be an effective teacher, I think it is very important to have a confidence in your teaching and the knowledge you have. If a teacher lacks confidence then he or she will have little control over his or her classroom. The students would also, most likely, not respect the teacher because they would not see him or her as an authority figure. Confidence is built through time, experience, and (for those first-year teachers) having faith that you learned what you could and that you have the students' best interest in mind. I also think teachers need to have persistence to make it through the school year (sometimes even the day). Persistence shows the students the teacher will not give up on them and that he/she cares for his/her students. Students can tell if a teacher actually wants them to succeed and if the teacher is persistent through all of the difficulties teaching presents (student/parent apathy, ill-considered rules, etc.) the students will see that their success is important to the teacher. Along with persistence, it is important for teachers to have a good work ethic. Teaching is a lot of work and will take many hours, outside of the school day, devoted to it. There are lesson plans to create, homework assignments to grade, school events to attend, and many more aspects of teaching that happens outside the classroom. Good teachers take the time to be prepared and involved in the community because it shows the students that the teacher cares about what is going on in their lives, which in turn could inspire the students to work hard and be successful.