Good Teacher Skills

Posted on August 7th, 2022 Good Tutor Qualities

The List of Top 40 +

Skills of a Good Tutor

A list of top 40+ Skills of a Good Tutor. Be admirable as a teacher by adopting the top wonderful skills of a good teacher / tutor

Here is a list of top 40 skills of a good tutor and you can become an admirable tutor by adopting these qualities of good teachers.

A good tutor contributes a big part to make students successful. On the other hand a bad tutor may destroy the learning abilities, confidence and personality of a student.

Table of Contents

 

  1. Personality Traits
  2. Communication Skills
  3. Dealing Skills
  4. Mental Skills
  5. Self Improvement

Personality Traits

They Love Their Teaching Profession :

Love for the profession can bring deep focus and creativity into the work which can help you to consider your weaknesses and improve them to make them your strengths.

If you don’t like what you’re doing, you can never be focused enough to become a professional in your field.

A good Tutor loves their profession as well as the subject and Students. Be passionate about teaching and remain committed to it with full dedication. Passion makes it perfect as well as easy for you to do it properly.

They are Flexible and Adaptive :

When you’re teaching, there is no standard right or wrong way of doing it. Maybe your best approach will fail and a bad approach will work. As it depends on the match of your communication frequencies with students. You may need a different approach for every student when you’re tutoring.

So, you should explain with different angles and focus on the process of learning, not on correctness of answer. Be Innovative to make new learning approaches which will work. Keep yourself ready to change existing ways and adopt new methods.

They are Caring, Kind and Patient :

Every student out there has a different learning and understanding speed. A fast student will get bored easily with a simple and slow learning approach. Whereas, a slow learner will understand nothing and remain confused if your approach is fast.

Never get annoyed even if asked a basic question, instead take it as an opportunity to assess the students ability and speed of understanding. Then you can change your teaching approach as per your assessment. Always provide time to let your student think in a calm and relaxed environment. After they learned it, extend the practice by doing it fast in a tense environment.

Be ready to repeat the same thing you already told a dozen times with a new angle. If you can’t do this then you’re not fit to teach anything.

They have a great Sense of Humor :

Let’s dive deep into your past studying as a student. How many teachers had a sense of humor? And how many were opposite! Then calculate your learning speed with both types of teachers separately..!

Many subjects are boring in their nature for most students. However, if the teacher has some humor then students will not end up sleeping in class. Here sleeping doesn’t mean sleeping physically, instead it means sleeping mentally.

Furthermore, having a good sense of humor will make it easier for students and the teacher to keep their brain fresh and active. However, a teacher should always know how to balance it otherwise he may lose respect.

They are great Organizers :

Teachers do a number of tasks everyday in their professional life which includes lesson planning to activities and marking. In order to manage everything well and complete their duties on time they need to have strong organizational skills.

They are Confident :

Teachers have to be confident in order to stand in front of the whole class and to deal with them. They need to have a strong character to answer difficult questions positively. Furthermore, dealing with parents and difficult students will require a bit of confidence.

Communication Skills

A good teacher will have to adjust their verbal communication with non-verbal signs and accents. In other words, they keep their body language supporting their words.

Sometimes, students will say they understood, but their body language will say the opposite. You will waste the whole lecture if you don’t know that your approach is not fit for this student. As many students do say “yes understood” where they are actually confused.

They Understand Their Audience : :

It is important to show empathy and understand each student individually. Good Teachers show a positive attitude to weak students and try to understand what is going on in their life.

Dealing Skills

The Good Teachers are Engaging :

Another admirable quality of the teacher is to engage students with creative lessons filled with humor and attention. Such lessons are memorable for the students and can raise the level of effort by students.

They are Result Oriented :

Educational systems divided learning into levels, certifications and degrees. If you do not understand the needs of the system, somehow you will end up teaching excess or less but irrelevant knowledge.

Students are looking to pass the examination and not just to learn the skill or subject. You may be a good teacher with expert level subject knowledge but your student will fail if you’re not result oriented.

Tutors need to be greatly result oriented as their students may be late as compared to other students. They have less time but still have to pass the examination so there is no time to waste on irrelevant knowledge.

In limited time you can not extend the learning capacity of students by overtime..! What it will result in, is lower efficiency and nothing else. Instead make a plan which includes the main topics which your students can learn fast.

The Great Teachers are respectful :

There is a saying “ respect others if you want to be respected ”. A good teacher uses a respectful tone in the classroom. Students should feel safe to share their values and opinions and they should respect each other’s thoughts. This can create a safe learning environment for all students.

They give Confidence :

Imagine that a teacher is delivering a lesson and you understand nothing in it, but as a student you have no confidence to question the teacher. The reason could be the rejection and strict behaviour of your teacher. In fact, both the teacher and the students are wasting time in such circumstances.

So, give your students enough confidence to let them tell you about their understanding. They must not feel afraid of doing so. Sometimes, it’s not the fear of rejection, it is the fear of being humiliated. Best way is to encourage and appreciate your students when they raise a question

They Respect Commitments :

If you want to see your students to be responsible and punctual then be their mentor. Do things on time. Show them you’re punctual and they will follow you without much effort.

Usually when you are not punctual, you can’t expect this from your student. Students reach on time in the class of punctual teachers. Whereas they’re often late thinking their teacher may be late as usual.

A good tutor must have enough energy and motivation to do their tasks on time in a well organized manner. A tired person can not deliver the best lecture so bring a fresh mind in class.

They are the Leader for Students :

Never be a boss of your students, be their leader. Show them the way by doing it yourself and if they fail, show them again with a better approach. A boss orders to do things and sit back and relax whereas a leader helps doing tasks.

An effective teacher has the ability to lead and guide their classroom; they can manage a number of different personalities, including misbehaving children, and steer them in the right direction. They lead by example and are an important role model in their students’ lives.

Understand student needs by observing, asking and knowing what it feels to be a student. A student may be stressed by not understanding and may not have the confidence to tell. Give them confidence so they could share their problems with you. Furthermore, you can ask parents and other teachers.

They Understand Students have different abilities :

Never treat every student with the same approach because every person is different than others. Some are fast, others are slow. Similarly, some students will be respectful but others maybe rude. Some students will have good manners and some have bad manners.

Treat each student as per their needs and decide to be friendly or strict. However, always show respect towards their self-esteem needs even when you’re strict for specific student. Acknowledge individual differences and use the best approach.

They are ready for Humiliation :

Teaching is a respectful profession but not in front of your student sometimes. Some of them have bad manners and some may dislike you for some reason. It can be due to the behavior of their previous teacher but you will have to stand it.

Never let your ego rule the classroom and avoid the situation of “me vs. them”. Sometimes, a 16 year old might be able to tell you something you don’t know. Understand it if you’re going to teach otherwise don’t teach. You’re supposed to praise such a student, that will be your greatness.

However, be honest with your students. Tell them you forgot the answer they’re questioning if you don’t remember it.

They Give them courage :

Courage, confidence and trust..! If someone has these 3, they can do anything..! So, don’t tell your student that they’re weak, slow learners etc. Instead give them courage and confidence by telling them that they can do it. Tell them they are capable of doing it and they will do it.

Build their confidence and gain their trust. Furthermore, build strong bonds with your student that they can share what’s their learning problem. Then use this bond to motivate them and encourage them to learn.

They Plan student learning goals :

There is a famous saying “An idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan”. So without a good study plan, what you’re doing is guess work. Make a result oriented plan to accomplish learning goals much before the examination.

Calculate available days excluding holidays, then exclude sick leaves and other occasional leaves that may happen. Now divide the whole syllabus equally on these days and follow the plan. Remember to include assessment days in your plan.

The Good Teachers are unbiased :

Teachers should not be biased towards any student and it is essential for the growth of each student.

They Maintain Proper Records :

Keep a proper record about your progress which includes your lectures count, student absence and results. So, you can provide feedback to the parents, school or the relevant organization.

Communicate these records with parents on phone call, email etc. Inform them about main aspects on time. Your records should reflect your progress clearly.

They Teach Professionally :

Your competence, sincerity and dedication will reflect that you teach professionally or not. A professional will try to earn trust by providing the best possible quality. You can not be a professional until you do not possess qualities and skills of the profession.

In tutoring or teaching, professionalism is having all the skills and application of all good practices discussed above and below in this article. Being professional means you’re doing it as a profession, not a time pass or temporary thing.

Be the Expert :

You need a subject grip and not just a subject knowledge to teach a subject. Even toppers of the subject are not good teachers because they can not explain it to others. A tutor should have deep knowledge and understanding of the subject and ability to explain.

Furthermore, the system is also very important. By system i mean the examination system of the educational body which provides a degree or certification. Only by understanding the system you can be a Result Oriented Tutor.

They Collaborate like a friend :

Don’t act like an instructor and build a positive relationship with the student. Your students should be able to ask freely for your help and can raise a question. Help them individually as per their needs to complete the tasks while understanding their weaknesses.

They Teach Students how to learn :

Your students score well when you teach..! Does this make you perfect? No, your students should learn to be independent learners and if you taught this, you’re a legend..! Sometimes, the teacher is teaching very well but the poor learning skills of the students will ruin the teacher’s hard work.

Teach them how to properly take indexed notes. How to attempt a paper reflecting communication skills. Do not teach things they can learn themself, just show them the way. If a student doesn’t understand the book, it may mean the thinking approach of your student is wrong.

An independent learner can learn things by just reading books or doing research on the internet. Let your students do the struggle to find the solution until they give up. Afterwards, give them courage and confidence, if they still fail then teach them why they failed.

They Provide Study Resources :

The world is in shortage of time and people try to find shortcuts in every aspect. A good lengthy book may have irrelevant resources or excess resources. Which are not required to pass the examination but are good to understand the subject.

Do some research on books, software, equipment and notes and suggest your students relevant things. If you can’t find good notes then make your own for your students if you’re tutoring. Let students make notes if you’re teaching in a class.

They Share their Experiences :

One of the best ways of teaching is through giving real life examples. A good teacher often explain topics by sharing their own experiences in real life. A real life example is easy to understand and easy to remember as compared to book theories.

Similarly, share your mistakes and losses you made and tell students to avoid doing such things. Be an ideal for your students, some will say it’s not possible but out there you can find such teachers.

They Respect Confidentiality :

When you gain student and parents trust, they may tell you more than you should know about their life. Which include any handicaps and medical conditions. Similarly the information about test scores and other things.

You’re not supposed to share this with anyone else including other fellow students. Professionally all this information is confidential and discussing it with others is a non professional approach.

They Question instead of Answers :

Let your students dig the answer themselves by questioning them. Instead of providing straight forward solutions just ask such questions which lead them to the solution.

Later in your absence a student will develop this skill and solve the question himself. By this approach you can reduce contents that need memorizing. Eventually this will ease the study process for students and improve their skills.

They are approachable for Students :

Students need to feel comfortable to ask you questions and to talk to you if they have an issue. They shouldn’t be afraid of failure or saying the wrong thing. Great teachers have warming characters that invite children to open up and get involved in the lesson.

They maintain discipline :

Being respectful and having a sense of humor does not mean their class will lack discipline. A good teacher should be able to maintain a balance and take strict measures when required.

Mental Skills

They Believe in Success :

Believe in yourself that you can do this work and have enough ego to survive hard days. Especially when convinced you can’t teach or it’s too hard for these kids or work is too much.

Similarly, believe your student as well. Tell them that they can do it, they have the ability to do it. Even if you clearly know that they are not capable of getting the task done. Your support will give them courage and confidence which ultimately bring better results.

Good Teachers think critically :

This is not specific for teachers as it is required by all profession jobs. You should be able to solve problems on tight deadlines. Answer difficult questions on the spot, a wrong answer will let your student think that you’re not capable of teaching.

Teachers need to solve a number of different problems, often on a tight deadline. This frequently involves, answering difficult questions on the spot, solving conflicts, creating new lesson plans, teaching games and dealing with other personal issues between pupils or colleagues.

They have a good imagination :

Creative and imaginative thinking can help a teacher to make inventive curriculum and bring interesting ideas to teach their students.

They are emotionally intelligent :

Good teachers should be able to control their emotions while teaching. Getting angry in the class will not be good for the student or the teacher.

They can manage their stress :

Teachers have to deal with stressful conditions often and good teachers can handle their stress without overloading their brain which may result in poor mental performance.

Self Improvement

Good Teachers Prepare before teaching :

Plan and prepare lessons as well as topics before teaching them to students. It still matters even if you have 20+ years of experience and a Gold Medal in that subject. The main reason is humans can forget things.

Preparing lectures will let you create a better approach each time. Eventually your students will understand fast and you will have to do less effort on explaining.

They Always Update Themselves :

Humans are always updating themselves through inventions and innovations. Nothing is constant and knowledge is no exception. You’re an expert, best of best, maybe a Gold medalist but still if you stop updating yourself, your knowledge would be useless after a few years.

Participate in training and development programs, learn new tutoring techniques. Remain a continuous learner, know relevant mobile apps and websites and understand technology.

They Build Good Reputation :

If you’re teaching professionally then your reputation should be good among your students. Following on points mentioned above in this article will surely help you gain a good reputation. Additionally students will love you where they’re supposed to hate you..!

By having a good reputation your reach will extend to better organizations and institutions. In the future that will help you in your overall career. Furthermore, you will be respected and honored everywhere.

They Take care of mental health :

Health is a very important aspect for any job or profession. Unhealthy lifestyles will affect teachers quite much as their brain needs are more than many other professions. A healthy brain can perform well and a tired brain will just spread tiredness in students.

Adopt a healthy lifestyle and avoid fast food as well as processed food. Sleep and eat on time and get sleep as per doctors recommendations (i.e; 8 hours usually). Whatever it takes, reach the student with a fresh mind

Good Teachers do self-evaluation :

Professional teachers self-evaluate themselves to provide quality education by analysing their mistakes and correcting them.

Time management is the key to success :

Good teachers arrive at work before their students do, and they need to allocate time after class to review and grade homework and plan their lessons. That said, they also need to schedule in personal time where they can relax and do something for themselves

They learn new technologies :

Good teachers need to learn new tech especially in the era of online learning. They should know how to host an online class and to do other tasks using computers.

They have a great stamina :

Every teacher has to stand on their feet most of the day and deliver mentally exhausting lessons. So, they need to have a strong physical and mental stamina to keep going.