There's only one sure-fire, reliable indicator I know of to identify a "good teacher."

[TahitiNut]

The problem with this indicator is that it's not regular, controlled, and uniformly applicable. It's this ... if the teacher is in a public setting 1-3 years later and his/her students come up to him/her and say "hello... you might not remember me but I was in your..." ... then THAT'S a good teacher. In my experience, nothing else is a better indicator.

Sue me. :hide:

[RC]

1. It is when the teacher remembers you 10 to 15 years later...

[TahitiNut]

2. Kingsfield.

:shrug:

[TahitiNut]

4. Kingsfield.

:shrug:

[frogcycle]

3. indeed

I remember as individuals three or four of the teachers I had . The rest are sort of just names and cardboard cutouts. The ones I remember were, indeed, excellent teachers, in that they made me think, challenged me. One probably changed my life (for the better). He did that by metaphorically slapping me upside the head.

[Mind_your_head]

5. Either way - teacher remembers student/student remembers teacher.....

....it's "all good".

BUT that doesn't say anything MORE than the teacher wasn't an '*sshole'. The student wasn't an '*sshole'.

I don't think this is a good measure of good teaching/good students. Sorry. :-(

[TahitiNut]

7. You don't seem to be paying attention.

I didn't say 'remember' ... I said the former student actually approaches the teacher. Indeed, it has nothing to do with the teacher remembering, either.

In my experience, the former student might remember a bad teacher ... but sure wouldn't approach and initiate conversation. That's not a Universe I've ever inhabited.

:shrug:

[Mind_your_head]

8. True, a former student would be more likely to approach (and appreciate)

a teacher whom they admire (was inspired by).

Versus a student who thought their former teacher was a "real Putz".....wouldn't approach that teacher, at all! You're right.

[rurallib]

6. And a real kicker is when the student comes up and tells the teacher

"I became a biology because of the way you inspired me." It was a short meeting when my daughter told her high school biology teacher that. Never seen a man get so choked up.

[mahina]

10. Oh yes. I even got choked up reading your story.

God bless them. They sure aren't in it for the money, and I bet these moments of gratitude are few and far between.

Is your daughter a biologist? Cool!

[TahitiNut]

13. I've gotta believe that's like getting an Oscar ... for a teacher.

I know that I felt like I was in a ticker-tape parade when I was trying to teach a particularly difficult concept in trigonometry ... and a kid a the back of the room let forth with an "Oh!" He got it. It was his 'eureka moment' and I got goosebumps. It made that week ... year ... worth the effort.

In fact ... if a teacher didn't feel that way in such an event ... they shouldn't be teaching.

:shrug:

[shadowknows69]

18. My mother considers it so

Many of my friends that have gone into graphic design and creative careers directly credit her influence in that. Aside from being an awesome teacher my mother is simply a friend to anyone she meets.

[rurallib]

26. She's a biology teacher in an Illinois high school.

[Mr Generic Other]

21. i would not venture to claim i was a good or great teacher but

there is a story i can relate that makes me feel pretty good.
i teach US and Latin American history in a public school (in a town with a bad reputation) and have had many wonderful students in my classes over the years.
about ten years ago there was a student, male and a math wiz, he attended math classes at a local private university because our school did not offer courses advanced enough for his skills (we have the international baccalaureate program so we do a offer challenging curriculum).
this student was accepted by harvard university after an interview during his junior year of high school. after graduation he attended harvard and when he graduated he sought me out to reveal he had graduated from school with a degree in history. he thanked me and was off to graduate school.
his parents jokingly cursed me for destroying their son's future earning potential (and honestly i did feel somewhat guilty for that) but both they and i were and are proud of their son's accomplishments.
the father of this student then presented me with a treasure which i have framed and in my classroom. it is a picture he had taken when he was a student at Berkeley during the 1960s. the picture is of a student demonstration. those pictured are protesting anti-war demonstrators and the svelte, blonde with sun glasses in the center of the photo is carrying a sign that says "kill a commie for christ".
i treasure both the photo and the story.
thank you for posting a thread where i could share them with you.

[mahina]

9. 100% agreed.

A great teacher remains in our hearts forever, that is for sure. I hope we all tell them when they've touched our lives.

[Mind_your_head]

11. 100% agree n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Whenever people ask me how to thank a teacher they once had

I tell them go visit that teacher.

I can't even describe how awesome it is to see that former student standing in the doorway. The first time it happened to me I cried.

Last year one of my formers found me on myspace and wrote the sweetest note to me. That means more than any amount of merit pay. :)

[TahitiNut]

15. I only taught for a year. A long time ago. The 60s. High school math.

(Then I had to get a "real job" ... I was only paid $5K/year and my entry level pay at GM/Chevrolet was $8,700.)

So, it was after I changed jobs ... and one of my former students came up to me once to say 'Hi' and tell me he appreciated my class. It wasn't until THEN that I was sure I'd been a good teacher. (I suspected it ... since it was a labor of love. With that pay, it had to be.)

[shadowknows69]

14. My mother is one of those teachers

Students from decades ago still come up to her and tell her what an influence she was on their lives.

[TahitiNut]

16. There are perhaps thousands of Mr/Mrs Hollands out there.

I fear that we're losing them.

[shadowknows69]

17. My mother actually came out of retirement but may lose her job next year

Due to cuts in the Arts budget and she lost all her seniority, which IMO is BS because it's the same school system she worked in for 30+ years. She's really kind of been treated badly by a lot of the younger staff and my mother should be a Goddess of that school for as much extra things she's done over the years for it. Mostly gratis.

[Posteritatis]

19. Unless they follow up with a right hook after the introduction! (nt)

[doc03]

20. You are right but I also remember the

ones that were totally useless. I had a General Science teacher in High School that blew through the textbook until she got to the chapter on sound, then she spent the rest of the year making us sit through opera records. In order to pass her course we were required to write a report on an Opera, I made mine from Madam Butterfly from a summary I found in an encyclopedia.

[customerserviceguy]

22. It's not an impractical suggestion

It might be too late for old dogs like me (most of my teachers must be long gone by now, I might have even accelerated that process for more than a couple of them!) but why not seek out students ten years after high school graduation, give them a list of their teachers, and ask them to select three or four that they found worthy of merit pay?

The students would be long enough out of school so that they would have had some time for reflection, but not so long that they cannot remember significant things. It certainly would be one factor to consider.

[TahitiNut]

23. Well... it could be done in conjunction with pentennial reunions, for high school at least.

Clearly, it's one of the most common conversation topics at high school reunions. (That ... and "remember what's her name?") I question whether it'd work as well for K-8 grades. :shrug:

[customerserviceguy]

25. I can certainly remember

some of my more outstanding K-8 teachers even today. While I moved from Indiana to Washington in the middle of my junior high years, most of my high school classmates went to the local elementary schools, and had vivid memories of instructors from that time.

It could work to send them out with high school reunion forms, most people are still fairly locatable ten years after graduation. That's enough time to really evaluate your life, most people have figured out what they're going to be when they grow up, and their teachers were a big part of that.

[lib2DaBone]

24. Memo: Get Off The Teachers Back.....

The problem is with the School Board Administrators and the Politicians.

We need to drug test all school board members and politicians.. (especially) for Alcohol and Prescription drugs.

Leave the teachers alone! Let them do their job!

[Are_grits_groceries]

27. Years ago I had a student in my 9th grade

Earth Science class. He wasn't a bad kid. He was just a goofy teenager. However, another kid was put in the same class, and together they were becoming something that was headed down the wrong road. They were no longer just goofy teenagers, but something darker and more malevolent.
I had conferences. I called the parents. I finally went to another teacher who also had them in the same class. She was seeing the same thing. We switched students and broke them up. That helped some. He was never going to walk the straight and narrow, but so what. I never did. I had no idea what he would be, but he had the brains to be whatever.
Years later when he graduated, I got a letter from the parents. They told me I had saved their son. They got family counseling and worked with him. Gradually, they worked through their problems, and were in a much better place with him. He was going to college. The parents said I had alerted them to things they had never seen coming. I was their "Teacher of the Year." They said it was a little late, but they wanted me to know.
That was one of the few times I ever knew something before a kid left entirely. I just did what I was supposed to do. Some kids would try to run over you. I was determined they might run into me, but never over. I told them I was a speedbump in their road of life. I wanted them to slow down enough to hear something.
At graduation, he blew bubbles from his seat.
I just hoped I never ruined a kid.

[etherealtruth]

28. What about (in part) naming your first born after a teacher?

Dante Chini you were the best.

[DemBones DemBones]

29. Another one is when a senior tells you on

graduation night that he wouldn't be graduating without your help.