4 Qualities of a Great Teacher and 5  Teaching Craft Tips

WELCOME MDC ADJUNCT FACULTY!  

4 Qualities of a Great Teacher 

Or at least try, humbly, to be an expert in your subject area.


2. LOVE YOUR SUBJECT.  Be authentically passionate about what your subject.


3.  RESPECT YOUR STUDENTS.  Enough to challenge them.  A real challenge probably means finding a larger context for your topic or your subject.  (MDC Learning Outcomes)


4.  BE ORGANIZED AND FAIR.  It’s almost impossible to learn in an environment that is chaotic.  Students want to know what to expect, how they will be evaluated, and that that evaluation is done judiciously and fairly.


5  Teaching Craft Tips—a Cascade

1.  YOUR STUDENTS SHOULD BE DOING THE WORK.  You cannot learn for them.  If you are doing all the work, they’re probably not learning much… 

2.  MAKE THEM DO THINGS.  It’s okay to let them passively take in information, sometimes.  But then, they have to do the work, and it should be a challenge—for them, not for you…

3.  PROVIDE CONTINUOUS FEEDBACK.  Good feedback comes quickly, recognizes what they’ve done well, and suggests what they can do better…

4.  TELL THEM STORIES.  If possible, make the entire topic into a story. If possible, include humor and surprises.  And bring something new and different… have humor surprises or innovative and new and different things part of your story…

5.  FIND THOSE GEMS, usually online.  In today’s world, any and every topic has amazing, world-class, museum-quality stuff online.  Find that text, those images, the video, whatever is out there that will blow their socks off.  Get that gold for your students!


Great Teacher Teaching Craft Workshop Outline.pdf

Here's some examples of the "Golem" projects my students do when challenged at the highest levels:  

GolemExamplesDigitalForETCAllPages.pdf