There are several characteristics that all teachers must possess. Patience, passion, dedication, etc. If these characteristics are lacking, a teacher cannot be an effective educator. But above all, patience is the most important.

I have read the book “The Elements of Teaching”. What I learned after reading is it simply offers one definition, describing patience as an element that, unlike learning or imagination, requires restraint rather than release. Let us admit that there are times that we tend to raise our voice  a level or higher than we should have to our students. We have grown hearing the saying “Patience is a virtue”. Patience in teaching means we dedicate considerable class time to building prior knowledge in students where there is none. Patience is understanding your students. Of course, patience without understanding is not patience at all, but an empty form of waiting.  Patience is working with a large group of children, whose needs and abilities range at different levels. Patience is staying calm and cool whenever the classroom is unruly. Simply put, patience means not showing annoyance or anger with our children especially in front of them. A teacher’s main asset is patience. A good teacher must remain patient with his or her students at all times. However, that doesn’t mean the teacher should let the students get away with whatever they want to. Discipline and fairness must be used as well.

Patience is required every day and in every way within any classroom full of youthful minds who will use their ingenuity to test our patience every day and in many ways. Any teacher who assumes that a room full of children will be eager to sit quietly and listen to the teacher teach, will be surprised by the rude awakening that children don’t work that way. Teachers are blessed with the ability to patiently keep teaching, even when it appears that no one is listening.

A great teacher is very patient with their students and their parents to deal with the same questions and problems over and over again.  Teachers never give up on his students and would try out new ways to help them succeed in school. So as a teacher, do you have that kind of patience? Think!

Published and Owned by: Gypsy A. Fernandez