Teachermum is a mum, a wife and a special education teacher. She also believes in the “Crumple Effect” and loves sharing her ideas, experiences, philosophies and successful strategies on her blog. Read more of her posts at www.teachermum.com.

Sad. That is what I am feeling right now. I can give you a good number of reasons why I am sad, but that is not the intention of my blog post. I can also add a whole bunch of other emotions such as frustration, disappointment, anger and exhaustion into sad, but for now, I will umbrella them all under sad.  I hope, as I start out writing this, that I can ultimately express my message clearly and use my sadness as a tool to get there….

A few months ago, I had the privilege of hearing Hugh Mackay, psychologist and social researcher, speak. Now, if I had not heard him speaking, I might have just taken my sadness off to bed and hid under the covers for a few hours. But Mr Mackay made me finally understand that without sadness, there would be no happiness.  I accept all the research out there about the depression epidemic our children are facing by the time they hit 30. I’ve read the numbers and they are pretty scary. However, the awareness of depression, as Mackay has pointed out, has made us all too scared of sadness.

Yes – there is no doubt that depression is a real illness.  I am not talking about that depression. If you are a normal human being, you will experience sadness, despair, doubt, disappointment… without these, how would we know how the feeling of happiness feels? MacKay confirms what most of us already know – that the “most significant growth and development has come from pain, not pleasure.”

The human experience is filled with a range of emotions. It is the experience of these emotions and the ability to deal with them that makes us complete human beings. Being complete, whole human beings is the goal we should instill for ourselves, our children and our students, which implies that happiness is not the goal. If it is, how can it ever be reached?

Mackay goes on to say that when parents comment that they only want their children to be happy, he is tempted to ask them, “Is that all you want for them? Do you really want them to be as emotionally deprived as that? Don’t you want them to learn how to cope with disappointment, failure and even unfairness? Don’t you want them to be whole?”

If you’ve been following my blog, you will know that I believe whole heartedly in teaching our children about resilience and independence so that they may have the life skills to live meaningful adult lives.

On the same day I heard Hugh Mackay speak, I was stunned into awe as I watched Lindy Chamberlain take the stage. She was rows and rows away from me, but I felt her touch me. I had seen the movie about her as a young child and I knew her name well. Lindy spent a number of years in jail after being wrongfully convicted of the death of her nine week old baby who was killed by a dingo. Lindy Chamberlain deserves a whole blog post, rather than a mention in a paragraph, but I would like to mention an essential lesson I learnt from her. I like her terminology of how you move through the stages of being a victim to a survivor and then a thriver. I have embraced this terminology and use it often with my own children and some of my students.  It is the people who cannot move out of the victim stage who land up having real depression. It is so useful to be able to tell my senior son that he has had victim emotions for long enough and what is he going to do about it? He knows the route and there is only one.

So, back to my “sad.” Firstly, being able to write about it and visit an old mentor has started me on the process of moving away from being a victim. Secondly, my sadness is okay. It is allowed to be here and stay for a (short) while because I am going to embrace it, acknowledge it, accept it and move on. It is not depression. It is part of being human and normal.

Yes, people – tomorrow I am going to thrive.

Teaching is an art, a skill and a challenge that can sometimes be more difficult than aiming in archery. In this article we discuss on the various benefits of teaching English in a foreign country.

A lot of teachers prefer working abroad for different reasons. Some common reasons behind teaching abroad are learning the new culture and the language, gaining professional success, earning and a lot of other opportunities as well. Many teachers who prefer to go abroad are English teachers as the language (English) commands a very high respect demand all over the world. In countries where English education is compulsory, one expects teachers to have advanced degrees and to be a native English speaker.

The Political Effect on the language
A lot of non-English-speaking countries that want to maintain relations with the US or the UK or countries that are in dispute with the two nations prefer to learn English for their communications. Hence there are no limits as to where a person can teach English.

Almost all of these countries have schools that teach English for both adults and young children.

The Needs
People abroad learn English for various reasons. While children may learn English as a part of their subject or for college purposes, adults may learn English for their business purposes or their relations with countries like the US and the UK. Some computer-related works demand a compulsory English knowledge although today, a lot of software have undergone translations in different languages.

The Time Frame Advantage
Different countries across the world have different time zones. Schools and colleges have different schedules of commencing classes. Hiring Adults for teaching in private sectors happens throughout the year. Hence these factors ensure that job openings exist throughout the year and that makes one more good reason for abroad teaching.

Requirements
Most countries require a native English teacher from UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and many other countries. But some Asian countries need a bachelor’s degree in order to be eligible while other countries may require a teaching certificate. Some of the popular English teaching certificates are TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults).

The Earnings Factor
Migrating to a foreign country is also because of the high payments offered. For example Asian countries like Japan and Vietnam usually pays very high salaries to its English teachers. On the other hand there are lots of other benefits offered like perks, travel tickets, insurance and other benefits in some of the countries. Few other countries like Russia, just pays a meagre salary to its teachers. In such circumstances, teachers often take up a part time job in order to improve their standard of living.

Great care should be taken as many schools abroad may not be recognized by the country’s embassy or the government. These schools may not live up to what they promise to be. Hence it will not be a bad idea to study the place and its reputation before
taking up on them.

Author Bio
Sanjay Bojan writes on a variety of topics for PS Discounts, public sector cash back site. He also writes articles and discounts for public sector staff including, Police, Forces, Fire

service and Teachers discounts.

Many musicians fall into the incorrect assumption that the only way to make money in music is to be a famous performing artist. There are many other lucrative careers which can be pursued in the music industry. These should not be taken for granted.

1. Music Production
   Music producers are responsible for coordinating all elements in a recording session. They listen to the musicians and point out any mistakes that need correcting. Music producers also work with the recording engineers and often are in charge of mixing the final product after the recording session is finished. They occasionally have to rearrange parts of songs to make the recording smoother. Since music producers are involved in a large amount of specialized tasks, most attend some form of online music production schools.. This school trains in recording technology, music performance, music theory, and mixing and editing.
2. Recording Engineering
   Recording engineers use technology, generally digital technology, to record, mix, and edit performances and studio sessions. These engineers also set microphones to their proper location and recording levels. Most recording engineers obtain bachelor’s degrees. These can be a Bachelor’s of Science in Audio Production or a Bachelor of Music in Music Engineering Technology. Though this training is extremely beneficial, not all recording engineers have formal training.
3. Studio Musician
   Studio musicians are performers who record with famous soloists or for film soundtracks. They are not generally well known, but have the opportunity to perform a vast amount of music and get paid for it. Studio musicians must be able to sight read parts with an extremely high level of accuracy. Most studio musicians choose to live in Los Angeles since this is where most recordings are made. Many have degrees in music performance, though some do not.
4. Songwriter
   Songwriters are often hired by music publishers, though some work independently and publish their own songs. Songwriters write both the lyrics and the music to a song. If a song is recorded, the songwriter will receive royalties for the sale of the recordings. Songwriters are often artists as well and sometimes perform the music they write. Songwriters must possess a basic knowledge of music theory In order to compose the music required for songs and language skills for the lyrics.
5. Music Teacher
   The possibilities for music educators are numerous. Music teachers can specialize in an instrument and/or an age level. Some music teachers teach beginning piano only while others focus on private lessons for those preparing for music in college. Music teachers can teach in the elementary school classroom or direct a middle or high school band, orchestra, or choir. Some larger high schools also offer music theory classes. Music teacher can teach music appreciation, theory, aural skills, jazz, lessons on an individual instrument, music education techniques, and numerous other music subjects if they choose to teach at the university level.
6. Composition
   When many people hear of a composer, they think of somebody who writes orchestral symphonies, string quartets, movie soundtracks, or something similar. We rarely think of the composer who writes for advertisements, but that composer gets paid as well. Demand for advertisement composers tends to be higher than that for other types of composers. Composers must attend college and get at least a bachelor’s degree in composition, though many choose to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree.
7. Instrument Technician
   Instrument technicians are responsible for repairing, designing, and building musical instruments. These technicians gain basic understanding of music and acoustics with an undergraduate degree in music. Some also pursue study in engineering. After college, instrument technicians must undergo further extensive training from their employers.
8. Music Therapy
   Music therapists work with patents using music to promote wellness and healing. This is able to help patients both physically and emotionally. Music therapy is often used in rehabilitation clinics and elderly communities. It does require a degree in music therapy from an accredited university by the American Music Therapy Association as well as an internship and state certification.
9. Music Critic
   Music critics write about performance, new works, conferences, or other aspects of music. They are published in scholarly journals, newspapers, the Internet, and various other s sources. To be a music critic, one must be an expert in the field. This often involved performance experience, experience as an educator, or journalism experience with an interest in music.
10. Music Librarian
    Music librarians are responsible for organizing and maintaining music collections for public libraries, universities, or other music associations. This often includes scores, periodicals, biographies, and other written resources on music, CDs, records, cassettes, digital music files, and other forms of media. Music librarians often have college training in either music or library science. If the training is in library science, they generally have to have a solid understanding of music.

About The Writer: Taylor Forcier is from Massachusetts. She lives with her husband, John, and two kids Ashley and Brianna. She is a writer for several online schools web sites and enjoys running and cycling in her spare time.

Inspiring students to be motivated and engaged in the learning process is an essential part of managing a classroom. Teaching students while calmly and effectively managing disruptive behavior is a vital skill for every educator.

Experimenting with new behavior management methods can help determine what works best for you and your students. Their unique personalities and challenges make every class different; a technique that proves effective for one student may not work well for her classmates.

Here are five tips you can try in your classroom. The more tools you have in your toolbox, the more effective you’ll be at managing a variety of classroom behaviors.

1. Post the Classroom Rules

• Students don’t always know what behavior is or is not acceptable. Posting the rules eliminates confusion and serves as an everyday reminder. Also, if not provided by school administrators ask for written expectations from the school principal.
• Choose four or five rules that you expect every student to follow.
• Frame the rules as expectations. For example, instead of “no running,” use “move around in a safe and orderly way.”
• Include consequences of not following the rules.
• Be consistent in enforcing the rules.
• Reinforce positive behavior with a smile, a nod or a “thumb’s up.”

2. Set Up a Discipline Policy

All children in your classroom can understand a discipline policy when it consists of a predictable series of steps followed each time a behavior requires correction.

• Step 1 is a reminder when students are close to breaking a classroom rule. For example, “We’re beginning our lesson, class. You should all have your homework out and you need to stop talking now.”
• Step 2 is a warning delivered verbally or in written form directly to a student. A written warning is a reminder to stop the behavior or face the next step. The student is in control of the warning slip, just as they are in control of their behavior.
• Step 3 is turning in the warning slip to the principal when the student fails to correct the behavior.
• Step 4 is removing the student from the classroom. If the first three steps are followed consistently, Step 4 is rarely necessary.

3. Teaching Students to be Active and Engaged

The most interesting teacher with the most amazing lesson cannot impart information if the classroom is not managed properly. Keeping students engaged and busy makes them less likely to be disruptive.

Engaging students can be as simple as including their names into dialogue. For example, when observing a student talking or drifting off, simply say, “And you see, Christopher, that plants can make their own food.” Christopher hears his name and calms down, without becoming the focus of attention.

Plan to keep students active, rather than lecturing for the entire class time. For longer class periods, plan two or three different activities around the lesson. Aim to get students out of their seats at least once every hour.

4. Be a Presence in the Classroom

Managing a classroom means making your presence known from the time your students enter the room until they leave it. Here’s how:

• Move around the room. Set up desks so you can be up close and personal with students, rather than lecturing from the front of the room.
• Move closer when students are becoming disruptive. If a student or group starts talking or laughing, standing nearby will often calm them down.
• Change the classroom’s look. New surroundings engage students, so plan bulletin boards and study areas around a particular lesson plan or topic. Include items from your own collections, travels or hobbies so students know you as a person, not just a teacher. A personal connection can lead to improved behavior.

5. Use “I-Messages”

When disciplining students, incorporate yourself and your feelings into the conversation. Calmly explain how the student’s behavior is affecting you, using “I.”

• Start with a description of the child’s behavior: “When I see that you are talking while I’m talking…”
• Describe the effect on you: “I have to stop my teaching.”
• Share how the behavior makes you feel: “And that feels frustrating to me.”
• Ask for the student’s help: “Can you help me by showing respect and not talking while I am talking?”

Successfully Managing a Classroom

A teacher who cares enough to create an environment conducive to learning is the most important factor in successfully managing a classroom. But today’s more challenging classrooms require new techniques – so try these five tips to keep students engaged in learning – not misbehaving.

A reader writes:

I’m currently student teaching. I’m very passionate about music and music education. A couple of years ago I felt a sudden terror when I recognized I was nowhere close to ready to be a successful teacher, and I started delving into as much material as I could and doing whatever else I could (camps, etc) to get ready. Your blog was one of the first good, free resources I found, and I’ve been reading ever since. So first, thank you for your contributions.

This past summer I had a friend start a music blog, and I thought, “Wow, that’s a great idea.” I love to write, especially in reflection and with the goal of learning from my experiences. I also enjoy helping others, when possible. So I thought a blog sounded fantastic. I started one, and it actually developed a regular readership (small, but consistent when I was consistent). It was actually kind of scary in some ways, because I wasn’t even student teaching yet. Who would actually care what I had to say? Anyway, I ran into a snag when a friend, who let me clinic his band, was unhappy over how I described his band. In a case study like fashion, I described the size of the school and level of the band in very broad terms, but with the goal if putting the tactics used for improvement into some sort of context. In other words, while I didn’t name the school, director, or students, I did say it was a small school, and a weaker ensemble (that is, however, on its way up). That was a mistake. He explained that this upset him, and I immediately went back and edited the post to make it more broad, so their identity was even more protected, if that was possible. We’re still great friends, luckily.

But the experience made me afraid to continue that type of blog. In my student teaching I’ve been able to work with students daily, and sometimes experiment with instructional techniques that their teachers aren’t using (which they told me to do… whatever works for me, they said). I’d love to share these, but now it’s kind of scary. The way I promoted the blog was primarily through posting it on facebook. I like sharing my experiences. But even if I don’t name students, or the school, all of my friends know where I’m student teaching.

Which leads me to the next problem, that when I start teaching somewhere, if I write about my experiences, then anyone who reads it will know where I teach. Even if I no longer reveal my identity on the blog, (as I noticed you only post with your first name), if I post it on facebook to let my friends know it’s up, they’ll still know it’s me. Which leads to the potential of parents, co-workers, students, etc. knowing it’s me. It just seems risky. Even though I’ve technically been protecting the identities of the students the entire time, people might still figure it out. Who knows? And even if I say nothing negative about the students (which I never assigned blame to students for a lack of fundamentals, not in real life or in previous blogs), some might be uncomfortable with me doing that.

So all that is to say, do you have any recommendations? I’d like to be able to blog about my experiences and share anything I’ve learned, as it might help someone. At the same time, I want to be able to share the blog with my friends. And of course I want to ensure I’m doing this in accordance with the Code of Ethics in regards to student and parent rights, protecting their privacy and so on. I know you support other bloggers, so I thought I would ask you for advice. How can I operate or structure my music/music ed blog so as to accomplish these goals (self improvement through reflection/helping others to improve), while sharing it with my friends, but not violating anyone’s rights or the Code of Ethics?

My response
Thanks for writing. You may have noticed that I blog FAR less often than I used to. There are a few reasons for this, but you hit on one of them pretty well. I want to dig into this in much greater detail and I know other young teachers struggle with these things as well, so my response will also end up on the blog later this week. With that being said, you’re getting a pretty involved response to your email (and it also happens to be the fastest blog reader response I’ve done in more than a year simply because I happened to be checking emails today!).

The beginning
Once I struggled through a couple of years of poor teaching and then struggled through a couple more years of overbearing control-freak teaching, I finally started to hit a groove around my fifth year. So I started a blog that spring.

When I first started my blog out, I made the conscious decision to maintain as much anonymity as possible. I write almost nothing about individual people, and when I do write about individuals, it is in a positive light. This is by choice. I could complain and vent and whine and everything else, but I find that writing style tends to help determine the types of responses. Since I prefer to encourage my readers who might be struggling as I once did (or with some of the same issues with which I currently struggle), I avoid negativity on the blog as much as possible.

The conflict
I really liked some of what I was writing and wanted to share it with a few other people I knew, but I also wanted to maintain as much anonymity as I could. So I have shared over the years with a small handful of people I know personally. I have also passed along a few articles here and there to friends without telling them outright that I wrote them. But as a general rule, I don’t promote my blog on my personal Facebook account.

I haven’t found it to be too much of a problem so far and when I tell people that I have a website that gets over 1,000 pageviews a day and brings in an average of $1 a day in advertising revenue (wooo), they are mildly impressed.

Promotion of your blog while maintaining relative anonymity
I started my blog in February of 2007. To put that in Social Media perspective, Facebook surpassed MySpace in popularity in 2008 and Twitter had an average of 20,000 tweets per day as late as SXSW 2007. Currently, Twitter has over 65,000,000 tweets per day. So the way I spread the word of my blog was much different then than it would be now. That being said, here are a few things that worked well for me.

1. Comment
   Find and follow a few blogs that have similar audiences to yours (I sort of created my audience since there weren’t many people doing what I did at the time). Subscribe to them in Google Reader or some similar RSS reader, and add relevant comments that add value to the discussion. Include a link (usually associated with your name) and be consistent with the presentation of your persona.
2. Separate
   Create an email address for your blog. If you have a domain name, use that. If not, create a free one with Gmail or wherever. Every blog-related communication should come from that address. Every comment should be associated with that email address.
3. Be consistent
   Not too long after my blog was born, I realized that while So You Want To Teach? was easy to memorize, it was also rather cumbersome to type. So I began using SYWTT. I then decided to start setting up accounts with the SYWTT name to create some consistency. Find a name that works and run with it.
4. Post consistently
   Obviously I no longer heed this advice, which explains why my blog hasn’t grown much over the last year. But early on, I wrote some of the best material on the blog. Write a series about something and get a few great articles out there. Then promote one or two of the best articles. Before your blog begins to really flow, be sure to write a handful of Pillar Articles. If you don’t know what these are, Google (or Bing) the term and then get to writing. Mine are 9 Reasons To Quit Teaching (And 10 Reasons To Stick) and Questions That Will Save Your Career.
5. Social Media
   I used StumbleUpon, Technorati, and Delicious early on. Now I use Twitter and Facebook almost exclusively. I do still get occasional StumbleUpon traffic, so take advantage of that. I also signed up for some RSS directories and did as much as I could. When in doubt about the usefulness of a site, try it and see what happens.
6. Read blogs about blogging, marketing, and just great blogs
   Don’t keep your blog-reading only to education topics. Before I started blogging, I read The Simple Dollar, Zen Habits, Seth Godin, and ProBlogger. I continue to read those blogs and apply what I learn to my blogging, my teaching, and just generally any area I can.

One more thing
As one reader once advised me, once you go public, there’s no going back. I know some great bloggers who maintain anonymity and I also know some who are quite vocal in about where they teach and what they do. I don’t know that there’s necessarily a right or wrong way to go about it, just as some teachers add current and former ungraduated students as friends on Facebook, and others don’t. It’s a personal judgment call.

One piece of advice that should help you in most areas of life, especially in the high profile world of public music education: If you mess up, err on the side of caution. You’ll have years to make a name for yourself. Don’t mess it up before it get started!

The principal at the middle school where I used to work emailed us a link to a great website. It doesn’t really apply to band or music education, but there are a TON of topics covered on this site. So what is it?

The Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. We’re a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone

anywhere.

All of the the site’s resources are available to anyone. It doesn’t matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. The Khan Academy’s materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.

Check these videos out, then go visit and bookmark the Khan Academy Website.

The good news: Texas is ranked #1 in the country as far as education spending goes.

The bad news: Many school districts are on the brink of cutting numerous jobs to keep their budgets in line.
* Additional bad news: Texas is #50 as far as Medicaid spending goes.

The worse news: Not all of you are fortunate enough to live in Texas.

I see news articles posted on Facebook every week about the impending job cuts that are in the plans for next year in the Dallas and San Antonio areas. I’m sure this is a pretty universal thing this year. I know the budget shortfalls have been a big problem in recent years, but I guess I have been more or less insulated by the fact that I live in Texas and my school district is one of the fortunate few that saw this problem from a long way off and has been preparing.

So when I saw that Bill Gates had recently spoken on this topic, I was interested to see what he said. And it was great. In a lot of ways, it’s along the same lines as the Planet Money Podcast I wrote about earlier this week (The Value of a Great Teacher). Watch the video below. In the course of the video, he mentions his State Budgets Website.

Back in January, NPR’s Planet Money podcast ran an episode entitled How Much Is A Good Teacher Worth? On the episode, they argue that the difference between the best teachers and the worst teachers is huge in terms of earning potential of the students over the course of their careers.

While some of the findings may be questionable as far as correlating grades and test scores with future success, as a general rule, I think the concepts do hold true and definitely worth a listen.

On today’s podcast, we consider a plan to dramatically grow the U.S. economy. The plan has nothing to do with banks, stimulus, tax cuts or the Federal Reserve. Instead, the plan focuses entirely on — public school teachers.

Economist Eric Hanushek has been researching education and the economy for four decades. In a recent study, he tried to put a monetary value on good teaching.

Hanushek says a good teacher’s contribution to the economy could be as much as a half a million dollars per year.

If it works, you’ll be able to listen to the episode in its entirety below:

Remember the first time you realized you were riding a bicycle by yourself? Probably not. But what about when you first got to drive solo? Your parents trusted you enough to give you the keys and go out on your own! It was a great feeling. If you’re like most people, you were so scared of messing up that you were nervous and overcautious. Do you ever see the “Student Driver” cars where they put their turn signal on two blocks before turning and check the mirror seven times before changing lanes?

For many of us, teaching was once like that.

For some, it still is.

Fast forward
What happened after a few years? You began to drive like a pro! Some of us pretended to do it the first time and ended up having to call mom to come bring us gas or worse. But eventually, you got to the point where it just became another thing you do. All the advice in the world won’t make you a better cyclist if you don’t go out and fall down a few times.

Hopefully it doesn’t take a series of car wrecks to get you moving, but it does take some humiliating mistakes! I had a friend in high school who ran out of gas at least three times a month for about 8 months. But eventually she figured it out.

I’ve come to realize that the same thing happens with teaching. You can collect all the advice in the world (and you’re clearly here because you are seeking out advice…good for you!). You can go to all of the seminars and take as many classes as you can find. But the true knowledge of teaching comes from just going out there and messing up a time or two or three…or fifty.

I’m on the downhill side of my ninth year, and I am by no means through all of the mistakes I’m going to make. I’ll make at least five this week! I just acknowledge the failure and move on. Dwelling on the past doesn’t help a thing. Ya gotta move forward. You need to actually embrace the failures. Once you start doing that, you’ll begin to focus less on them and then you get to really have fun.

Do you know what happens when you embrace your failures?
You free yourself to take calculated risks.

Do you know what happens when you free yourself to take risks?
You unleash your passion for teaching.

Do you know what happens when you teach passionately?
Kids will fall in love with learning.

And do you know what happens when kids fall in love with learning?
They get excited about coming to your class every day.

The first sign of this is when they are sad that they have a sub. When that happens, you know you’re starting to experience a breakthrough!

One piece of wisdom emerging from our ongoing discussions about education is that teachers matter most. They matter more than any other single factor in determining the quality of an education. Studies show it, and students realize it.

But what makes great teachers great? I was wondering that myself a few years ago, and I decided to take a direct, old-fashioned approach. I would set out to find some of the greatest teachers in America and talk to them about teaching.

I scoured America and found some inspiringly great teachers in the public and private schools, in universities, but also on the athletic field, in the culinary school, in the ballet studio, at the speedway, and in the operating room. They taught circus arts, horseshoeing, brain surgery, and even alligator wrestling.

And while their styles of teaching varied greatly, I found five qualities they have in common.

1. Passion
   They are so passionate about teaching that it is more a calling than a job. Minnesota first-grade teacher Lynette Wayne says simply, “Teaching chose me.” When the retired teachers I spoke with kept falling back into present tense, I felt that it was because the found teaching inseparable from their very identities.
2. Care
   Great teachers care. For them, care is more than a feeling; it is a lived commitment to do whatever it takes to bring to students knowledge, skills, and wisdom. Teachers want with all their hearts for their students to succeed. Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington teaches his players by the saying, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
3. Sensitive
   The great teachers are sensitive to their students. They have a keen intuition for what they are thinking, how they are feeling, what will move them forward. But sensitivity does not mean soft. These teachers are taskmasters, and at the Actor’s Studio West, Martin Landau coaches his students to confront their most difficult areas. Farriery instructor Doug Butler has them make one hundred horseshoes to get one right.
4. Communicators
   Great teachers are natural communicators. They seem to have a gift—carefully honed through experience—of transmitting what they understand to another human being. Whether through asking the right questions, giving clear explanations, assigning the right activities, or using magically effective metaphors, these teachers know how to transmit their own expertise to the students.
5. Experts
   And they are experts. Their teaching greatness is more an outgrowth of their expertise in their subject area than a separate skill, as if the highest level of understanding math, physics, or ballet dancing is to understand how to teach it. Vince Dunn fought fires in New York City for decades before he developed a new level of awareness and began to study fires, then to write about them, and ultimately to teach others how to fight them.

The great teachers have these qualities in common, but not much else. They certainly do not share a method. Some lecture, some talk little. But they have passion, care, sensitivity, the ability to communicate, and high levels of expertise.

Great teachers will always be rare, and good ones will never be as plentiful as we wish. There are also things we can do to increase the numbers of the great and the good, such as pay them well, respect them, encourage them to teach in their own style, and empower them to make the educational decisions best left to them. And we can remember, when we have waded through the fads, the politicking and the buzzwords, that they are the key ingredient. Anyone who wants to see these inspiring interviews can read them in Conversations with Great Teachers by Bill Smoot, Indiana University Press.