Favorite Teacher

Anyone who teaches for any length of time will certainly have there ups and downs along the way. How do you remain positive in the face of real challenges? Librarians, for better or worse, do not get to see students every day, so they do not get to see the progress or lack thereof of the students in the learning process. This may be changing as more librarians are becoming embedded in classes and help to grade research-related assignments. This models appears to have great potential for increasing students' information-literacy competencies.

To get excited about teaching, it may help to attend a teaching and learning workshop. Additionally, teachers may benefit from thinking about their favorite teacher. Why did they like that particular teacher? Which attributes did they exhibit?

Today I practiced a presentation and asked two groups of participants to describe their favorite teachers. Here are some of their responses:

• Cute


• Variety: in teaching methods


• Surprising


• Demanding high standards


• Meaningful, relevant assignments


• Funny or has a sense of humor = noted by both groups


• Knowledgeable = noted by both groups


• Interesting or off beat = noted by both groups


• Intelligent or smart = noted by both groups


• Interactive


• Passionate and/or enthusiastic


• Manages time effectively


• Organized = well prepared


• Caring


• Encouraging

What kind of teachers do we want to be? Are we embodying the teaching qualities that we admire in others? What can we do as librarians to help students become information literate?