What makes a teacher successful? Many people feel that a successful teacher is someone who is well organized, creative, and has detailed lesson plans. While many effective teachers do share these habits, they are not enough. In fact, some successful teachers are unorganized. Some just seem to always be flying by the seat of their pants. However, their lives would be much easier if they did learn to be better organized and to plan more detailed lessons.

So if organization, creativity, and detailed lesson plans are not enough, what qualities do successful teachers possess? The ingredients for success include the following:

• Sense of fairness

• Consistent approach

• Ability to be flexible

• Positive attitude

• High expectations for yourself and your students

• Sense of humor

The first three of these are skills you practice each day. The second three should become part of your overall personality. All of these characteristics can be achieved through experience and practice. The strategies in this book will help make these attributes a part of your effective teaching repertoire.

Don't Be Afraid to Succeed!

Teaching can seem a scary endeavor. However, even if you do not feel confident when you walk into your classroom, you need to follow the old adage and “fake it until you make it.” In other words, pretend that you are confident, and eventually you will gain confidence. Once you have mastered the technical aspects of teaching, such as paperwork, discipline, and lesson plans, you can really begin to reap the benefits of teaching. You will find that it is a very worthwhile and rewarding endeavor.