What will your students remember?

When I asked my friends what they remember about their former teachers, one said, "I remember a teacher who made me feel important. She saw something special in me.” Another stated, “It seemed like every day my teacher would always look me in the eye, smile at me.”
What I gathered was that a successful teacher is:
•    Calm and encouraging;
•    Respectful 
•    Prepared and enthusiastic about teaching;
•    Able to demonstrate a sense of humor;
•    And able to create a positive classroom learning environment
 

Some of the comments I got from my friends about their favorite teacher are as follows:
1.    Got us involved in fascinating discussions.
2.    Gave exciting stories to us.
3.    Comforted me when I was sad.
4.    Acknowledged my positive points in front of class
5.    Never gave up on me.
6.    She had a solution to all my problems whether academic or personal.
 

Some who wanted to talk about the teachers they disliked were for the following reasons:
1.    Always tagged me with words like stupid and good for nothing.
2.    Used to always scream and shout for everything.
3.    I never used to ask my doubts due to fear.
4.    She used to be so boring in her teaching that we slept for almost all lectures she took.
5.    She never understood me and my problems and just compared me with everyone around.
The basic idea of the above article is to reflect about ourselves, not the way we perceive ourselves to be but the way our students see us. It is said that the impression of a teacher lasts till eternity I hope I am making the right one.

                                                                                                                                          Vidhi Malhotra