The Hindu says a good teacher needs knowledge, communication skills, and aptitude. They define aptitude as wanting to do it.
Ad Prima: Toward the Best Education Information says good teachers:
are good at explaining things
keep their cool
have a sense of humor
like people (especially those in the age range they are planning to teach)
are inherently fair minded
are practical
have a command of their subject
set high expectations and hold their students to those expectations
are detail oriented
are good time managers
can lead or follow
don’t take things for granted
A blog, Ripples of Improvement provides a list of the Top 10 qualities of a good teacher.
1. Confidence
2. Patience
3. True compassion
4. Understanding
5. Ability to look at things in multiple ways and explain things in more than one way
6. Dedication to excellence
7. Unwavering support
8. Willingness to help student achieve
9. Pride in students’ accomplishments
10. Passionate
Commenters added “understand learning” and “sense of humor.”
Tomorrow’s Professor from Stanford, offers these characteristics:
Wants to teach
Take risks
Never have enough time (because they are too busy doing teacher-related stuff)
Tries to keep self and students off balance (meaning they are always stretching themselves)
Do not trust student evaluations (because they say too much nice about them)
If the above is Chris Morgan’s list, it is complete and online at Learning Matters at Lingnan, which includes other things about good teachers
have a positive attitude
think of teaching as a form of parenting
try to give their students confidence
try to motivate their students by pointing out incentive systems (like the raise lost because the person didn’t know how to write)
listen to their students
Marshall Brain says good teaching is knowledge, communication, interest, and respect for the students.
Nelson Guirado says a good teacher
Plans
Corrects work consistently and return it on time
Doesn’t sit down during class
Teach Kids Attitude 1st is another blog with a simple answer to what it takes to be a good teacher. A passion for teaching and a supportive teaching environment. That’s it.
JSTOR offers an article from Bioscience that says a good teacher must have enthusiasm for their subject and enthusiasm for their students.