A Teacher

What makes a good teacher? Is there a science to being one or is it just instinct? I've been thinking about these questions for a while as I had reason to go back into my past recently and remember my favorite teacher. She brought a lot of energy and joy to her teaching - she was very knowledgeable too - but what stood out for me was that she cared. More than anything else, her empathy served to open my mind up to the possibilities of her teaching and kindled my interest in the subject. Listening skills are very rare to find and are, as these things usually go, also the most critical for an educator to have. If the teacher cannot understand the needs of the students, he or she will be reduced to lecturing to the inscrutable minds of the impressionable. Most among us want to be listened to and not lectured to.